


Regina's Choice

by LunaCeMore



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Magic, Anti-Hood, Anti-Hook, Blood and Violence, Character Death In Dream, Established Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan, Established Relationship, F/F, Femslash, Light Dom/sub, Multiple Realities, Not Canon Compliant, One True Pairing, Possible Character Death, Pregnant Evil Queen | Regina Mills, Smut, Swan-Mills Family (Once Upon a Time), Timeline What Timeline, graphic sex scenes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-09-30 23:29:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 51,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20455340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaCeMore/pseuds/LunaCeMore
Summary: Regina is surprised to wake up in the late stages of pregnancy, married to the Savior, but not all is what it seems to be. With danger looming down on the town will Regina figure out what is going on in time to save her family?Swendgame, SwanQueen, MayorQueen, MayorSwanQueen ships





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Regina's Choice](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20503436) by [DamaLasi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DamaLasi/pseuds/DamaLasi). 

> **A/N: So first, I want to thank my friend Laura for her encouragement during the creation of this fic, you always believe in me beebs :)**
> 
> **Second, Jennybear, you are my rock, momma!! Thank you so much for using the brain for goods and reading and re-reading this thing! You always know what to say when I doubt myself xx**
> 
> **Last but not least, thank you to my elder Swen group on Twatter. You guys are the best cheerleaders a girl could hope for!**
> 
> **Now - YES Hook/d is in this but only as barriers to get over and if you're familiar with my work you won't be surprised with the level of tool I write them both as. I wanted to address how both men approached Henry in the show and that's really the main point of them being in this. There is no description of relationship-y action between our girls and the twidiots, so no worries. They're barely in it.**
> 
> **That being said, there are multiple major character deaths. Murder, suicide, everyone dies. Some of it is graphic and may not be for the squeamish.**
> 
> **There are also several places where there are smuttastical sexies between our girls and even a threesome with Emma and Jekyll/Hyde Regina. Also there are some Top!Emma and Bottom/Switch!Regina elements. If that's not your thing, this isn't your story and I'm not your author.**
> 
> **The timeline is pretty messed up and I didn't follow canon and just sort of picked out elements to build the plot.**
> 
> **I loosely based this story off of Amy's Choice from Doctor Who. S/o to my Whovians xx**
> 
> **As always, I don't own these characters, they own me. I love the love, so if you feel it, leave it.**
> 
> * * *

Regina Mills woke up from what felt like a fitful sleep. Disoriented, she shifted her weight only to realize, much to her surprise, there was much more of her than she could remember. With the dream she was ripped from still fresh in her mind, she rested her hand on her very pregnant abdomen as if her eyes were lying and her fingertips would reveal the truth. Her skin was warm to the touch just beneath her silken pajamas, and she shifted uncomfortably under the weight of the child growing within her.

Her confusion was startled away when a body curled around her, and a porcelain arm wound its way over her swollen abdomen.

"Good morning, my love." The Savior's voice was deep, still thick with sleep. "How did my girls sleep last night?"

"Your girls?" the confused woman asked as she watched a blonde head lean down and peck kisses along her belly. Warm lips sent shivers across her heated skin, and Regina felt wholly out of place.

Dark eyes looked up and took in the Mayor's rigid muscles and stone mask. "Are you alright, babe?"

"No," Regina answered honestly. "Does this seem weird to you?"

Emma rested her cheek against her abdomen and asked, "Does what seem weird to me?"

Despite having all of her memories of falling in love, then marrying and getting pregnant alongside the Savior, the idea that any of it was her actual life felt wrong. Regina rolled her eyes uncertain as to how to explain what precisely it was she was feeling and then waved her hand around the general area of her abdomen and clarified, "This. Us."

Emma's lips turned up into a small half-smile, and she shook her head before replying, "It's a little late to be having second thoughts."

"I am not having second thoughts about our daughter!" Regina snapped back, realizing what she'd been feeling just moments before was replaced with a fierce sense of protection for her unborn child. Her daughter. Emma's daughter. _Their child._ Created from their love. Well, a sperm donor, but their love made it possible.

"Seriously, babe, are you alright?" The blonde abandoned her place at the swell of Regina's belly and refocused her attention to the woman herself; curling into her and nuzzling into long dark curls. "Talk to me, baby girl."

"I…" Regina felt the disorientation melt away as if it had been a dream, and the loving serenity of Emma Swan enveloped all of her senses. "I don't know." She closed her eyes and leaned into the blonde's caresses.

"Alright," the soothing tone of the Sheriff struck a chord within the Mayor, and she felt herself grow upset. When the tears breached the confines of her eyelashes, Emma's green eyes were on her in an instant. "Hey baby, it's okay. Your hormones are all out of whack, everything is-"

"Don't patronize me!" the brunette reprimanded harshly.

"I'm not," Emma chuckled lightly, knowing that the often volatile Queen was like playing Russian roulette with all the chambers loaded and she wouldn't change a thing about her. "I love you, Regina."

"You do?" the Queen asked as if the mere idea was inconceivable.

Emma leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on the Queen's lips and said, "Always and forever."

"You… you said that at our wedding," Regina said astonished.

"I did," Emma agreed. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Regina shook her head but said, "Yes, of course, darling." She pushed away the strange memories of when her wife first broke the curse and took a deep breath and explained, "I simply had disorienting dreams."

Emma, still looking worried, accepted the explanation and leaned in and kissed the side of her wife's head and coaxed her to get up so they could start their day.

* * *

Henry Mills bounded down into the kitchen where his mothers were working together to make their small family a hearty breakfast. His adoptive mother was perched upon a high stool, looking more than ever like the Queen she was, as she instructed his birth mother on the correct way to lay out pancake batter for optimal cake distribution. He rounded the countertop and leaned in and kissed his brunette mother then gently fist-bumped his unborn sister before taking his place next to his mother.

Emma ruffled his hair as she deposited his plate in front of him and wished him a good morning. "Hey kid, do you need a ride to Tilman's after school?"

"No, I'm taking my bike right up to the campsite."

"Campsite?" Regina asked with apprehension as she imagined how many different kinds of trouble her young son could get into with the likes of Nick Tilman.

Emma rested her hand on Regina's knee before asking, "I thought you were camping out in Mr. Tilman's backyard, Henry."

"We were gonna, but Nick got a telescope for his birthday, and we can see more outside of town."

"Henry," Emma shook her head and explained, "With your sister due any day now, I think it would be best if you stayed within range of contact."

"Ma!" Henry exclaimed clearly upset over the decision. "Tonight is when you can see both Mars and Venus in the sky at the same time! I'm not goofing off, I'm learning!"

"Don't argue with your mother, Henry," Regina added, impressed, and a little surprised, Emma stood up and took the heat for her hesitation. She silently reminded herself that she shouldn't be surprised. It's been a lifetime since it was Emma and Henry versus Regina. Things were different now. They were married. They were a _team_. They were his parents.

Henry looked in disbelief between his two mothers and exclaimed, "I don't see why my life has to be interrupted because you guys decided to have a stupid baby!"

"Henry Daniel Mills!" Emma exclaimed in a harsh tone.

"You're lucky to be getting a sibling at all!" Regina added defensively then realized she shouldn't be pregnant. "I… I can't have kids." The panic this realization struck her, and Emma noticed immediately. The blonde steadied her and explained, "Our true love's kiss broke your curse, babe. Remember?"

As if it had been a part of her the entire time, she did remember the kiss that changed her whole life. A disastrous date between the women, who had skirted around their shy and tentative affection for months, ended poorly with a stalled engine after a heated argument over something insignificant she couldn't quite remember. She did remember the downpour of rain as she angrily exited the death trap Emma Swan called an automobile and how quickly she became drenched as she marched up the street. The blonde gave chase, grabbing her by the arm, whipping her around in confrontation, and yelled, "Why do you have to make everything so god damned difficult!?"

"Me?" Regina spat back, her rage unmasked.

The women stood toe to toe staring each other down, and after what seemed like an eternity, Emma's gaze dropped down to soaking wet lips, and in an instant, she moved forward and crashed into a heated kiss. When Regina wrapped her arms around her, Emma lifted her up and melted into that kiss. In the fraction of a second, an energy wave pulsed away from them, and they broke their embrace with pure shock and looked at one another.

"Was that-?" Regina asked in amazement.

"I think it was," Emma replied as a smile spread across her lips

"Your mother is going to be livid," Regina said a little more gleeful than what was necessary.

A month later, Regina had the first menstrual cycle she's had in three decades, and after a doctor's exam, it was determined her reproductive organs were in working order once more.

"Of course I remember, I just-" Regina had no explanation for her lapse in recognition nor the sudden and complete recollection.

Emma leaned in closer and asked in a worried tone, "Are you sure you're alright, babe?"

"Yes, of course," Regina soothed then added, "More pregnancy brain, I suppose."

"You guys suck!" Henry exclaimed as he pouted then stormed up the stairs to inform his friend it was the backyard or nothing.

Regina looked over at her wife and said, "Thank you for not making me out to be the bad guy."

"He is getting older, babe, you're going to have to give him some leeway sooner or later." Emma wrapped her arm around her and gave her a reassuring hug.

"Am I a terrible mother for wanting it to be later?" Regina pouted and rested her head against the blonde's shoulder.

"A terrible mother? No. A helicopter mom? A little bit," Emma answered with a chuckle. She rested her hand on the bottom of Regina's large swell and added, "Soon, we are going to have our hands full, and Henry is going to start doing more for himself."

Regina sat up and said, "I'm not going to stop worrying about him simply because we have a second child."

"No, but he's thirteen now, babe. He's at the age where he's capable."

Regina sighed, "It's going so fast! He was just eleven! How do we have a teenager?"

Emma kissed her on the forehead then picked up their dirty dishes and quipped, "Time flies when you're having fun!"


	2. Chapter 2

Regina sent her family off to work and school, then settled in to start her day. She entered the bedroom she shares with her wife and huffed with irritation at the perpetual state of disarray her life has become since she married the Savior. The woman wasn't dirty, but she had little regard for tidiness. This was a far stretch from how the Queen had previously kept her orderly life. Everything has its place, and there was a place for every thing.

After she picked up the few shirts Emma had strewn over the rocking chair, she sat down in it and stared at the yellow and white bassinet that sat waiting to be filled. She placed her hand on the swell of her stomach and felt the life within her respond. "Hello, little one."

An itty bitty limb jabbed into the palm of her hand, and she was taken with emotion. With unshed tears brimming, she said, "Can you hear me in there?" She waited for a long moment, and when the child did nothing more, she wiped the tears from her eyes and internally chastised herself for asking such a foolish question. She gently stroked the side of her belly and said, "Well, I'm your mommy, little one, and I can't wait to meet you." She gently rocked back in the chair and wondered if this child would call her mommy the way Henry did as a baby. _Would Emma want to be called mommy? Had they discussed it?_ She couldn't remember and made a mental note to bring the subject up with the Savior as soon as she was able.

While she was in the new baby's room, putting away diaper supplies, she got a sudden desire for apple turnovers and made her way downstairs to bake away her craving.

As she's rolling out the dough for the crust, she felt a sharp pain rip through her abdomen. She dropped the rolling pin and grabbed her protruding belly before reaching out for the nearest chair. In her panic, she began breathing the way she learned to during the ridiculous Lamaze classes Snow forcefully suggested. Breathing wasn't going to help with the pain, drugs were going to help with the pain!

Another strong jab had her pawing for her cell phone to call her wife.

* * *

Emma was out on a call at Old Widow Moffet's taking down a report of a gigantic bigfoot sighting. She found the claim farfetched, but it being Storybrooke, anything was possible. She was married to the Evil Queen and her parents were Snow White and Prince Charming, after all.

"I was tending to my tomato plants out in the greenhouse, and that's when I saw him! He was eight feet tall and had teeth as big as my index finger!"

"And how far away from you, would you say he was, Ma'am?" Emma asked feigning interest.

"He was just over there at the wood's edge," the old crone pointed to the area where she saw the beast.

"Over here?" Emma asked as she strode over to the area identified, and the old woman nodded. There was nothing close to evidence of an eight-foot man-shaped animal in the vicinity, and Emma inspected the glass of the greenhouse instead.

"And then he pulled out his wings and jumped into the air and flew away!"

Shock at the new development was clear across the blonde's face when she asked, "Bigfoot had wings?"

"He most certainly did, Sheriff!"

"Alright," Emma jotted down the extra detail in her notebook, figuring the old woman was simply off her meds and was relieved when her cell phone started to ring. She placed a polite finger up to the witness and answered the call from her wife, "Hey babe, is everything alright?"

"No!" Regina exclaimed through labored puffs of breath.

"Oh my god!" Emma said in an excited tone, "Are you in labor?"

"Emmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Regina cried into the phone as another pain ripped through her.

"Okay baby girl, I'm coming! I'll be right there! Keep breathing!"

"Don't tell me to breathe! I _am_ breathing!"

"Okay! I'm sorry! Just hang tight, babe, I'm coming!" Emma hung up the phone with her wife and stumbled out a quick explanation to Old Widow Moffet and rushed off to her squad car and drove home, lights and sirens blazing.

* * *

When Emma stormed into the mansion, she called out into the eerily quiet house, "Regina?"

"In here!" An all too calm tone of Regina Mills replied from the kitchen and when Emma entered the room, she found her wife sitting on a stool eating raw apple slices out of a bowl propped up on top of her enormous pregnant belly.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes," Regina replied as she bit into another crispy apple before further explaining, "False alarm."

"Again?" Emma huffed as her shoulders slumped in disappointment.

"Well, I don't know what it feels like! I've never been pregnant before!"

Emma took a deep breath and pooled her patience as she sat down next to her wife. "What have you got there?"

"I thought I had a craving for apple turnovers, but it turned out I just wanted apple slices in cinnamon sugar."

"That's an easy mistake to make," Emma commented as she reached into the bowl and grabbed a sugary piece of fruit. "Are you okay?"

Regina shoved a fork full of apple into her mouth and nodded her head agreeably and added, "You keep asking me that."

"Sorry. Okay. I'm going to go back to my bigfoot investigation."

Regina asked around a large bite of an apple, "Bigfoot?"

"Winged bigfoot with a taste for fresh tomato," Emma deadpanned.

"That… sounds… made up."

"I think maybe Old Widow Moffet needs new glasses, that's all."

Emma leaned in and kissed her wife before returning to her job as the town sheriff.

* * *

Having been on her feet for a better part of the day, Regina decided to make her wife a deli-style dinner with sandwiches and assorted salads she had delivered from Granny's. She felt the stresses in her body acutely, having pushed herself too hard and poorly stifled her complaints to Emma. She'd done this to herself and didn't want to add to her wife's burden. Of course, Emma noticed the brunette was in extreme discomfort and set aside her own stressful day to dote on her.

Since getting pregnant, the Mayor has let Emma do more and more for her and Emma found solace in that devotion. After cleaning up the dinner mess, Emma led the older woman upstairs to their bedroom and prepared them for bed.

Once Regina was changed into her nightwear, Emma pulled down a couple of spare pillows from the linen closet and used them to prop up the massive baby bump, relieving the pressure on her wife's lower back.

When Regina let out a deep satisfying groan, Emma asked, "How's that? Better?"

"Much, thank you!"

"You were on your feet too long today," Emma commented as she pulled out the cocoa butter moisturizer she kept in her end table drawer specifically for nights when Regina needed a little extra tender loving care. The woman practically lived in stiletto heels, and that caused havoc to her feet. She sat at the bottom of the bed and began attending to the Queen's swollen soles. The moan that climbed out of the petite brunette was obscene, and Emma chuckled.

"I know you think you can do it all, but I thought we agreed that until Duckie came, you'd take it easy these last few weeks."

"Please tell me you'll stop calling her that horrendous nickname once she does get here."

"Well if you'd let us name her, I wouldn't be forced to give her a nickname."

Regina pressed her palm against the side of her unborn child and said quietly, "I need to meet her before I can name her, Emma."

"I know, I know, names have power, blah blah blah."

A sharp look from dark eyes quelled the blonde's teasing, and she surrendered, "Fine, well, you can't give me crap about calling her something until you decide it's the right time to name our daughter."

Her thumb dug into a particularly tight knot in the bottom of the Queen's foot, and the woman gasped, then groaned. Emma looked down on her wife, who was bringing their second child into the world and felt an overwhelming sense of awe. Emma was happy. Happier than she could ever remember being, and it was due to this woman before her. It had taken work for them both to get to a place where each of them could entertain the idea of a romantic relationship, and she felt grateful she'd listened to her gut and tried. She had everything she ever wanted and more. Overcome with emotion, Emma said, "I've never loved you more than in this moment, Regina."

The sudden outpour of feeling struck Regina, and she looked up at the loving gaze of the Savior and her breath caught in her chest. "I'm still in such awe of you, my Savior."

Emma leaned down and kissed the back of the hand that laid protectively over their child and replied, "You've brought me happiness I never knew attainable."

With the foot massage complete, Emma Swan tucked her wife and child up into a protective embrace, and the couple drifted off to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

The shrill ringing of a cell phone roused the sleeping Mayor of Storybrooke. She moaned her displeasure and rolled onto her stomach to reach for the device, only to be startled that she was not the 39 and a half weeks pregnant she felt she should be. She looked around her stark bedroom and noticed none of the lived-in clutter she expected was present. The call that was ringing dumped into voicemail and whoever it was, hung up and called her back.

This time she answered the call and was surprised it was none other than Sheriff Swan.

"Hey, did I wake you?"

"I… Yes," Regina answered honestly. She felt disoriented as she recalled her dream in all of its strange vividness. She placed a cool hand over her flat abdomen and felt the loss acutely.

"Sorry, I just thought you'd want to know we found Blue," the Savior informed.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Are you okay?"

Regina snapped, "Why do you keep asking me that?"

"I… I'm not trying to pry, Regina, you just sound weird."

"I was just ripped from my slumber, Miss Swan, and I'm not…" her thin voice trailed off before she told her friend precisely what had her so upset.

Emma was her friend. They were friends. Not _lovers._ Not _enemies._ _Friends._

"Okay, well, we found Blue, but Belle's baby is still missing. We're having a meeting at Killian and my house," Emma dismissed the odd behavior of the Mayor figuring it was always a bad idea to discuss anything with the woman before she had her morning coffee.

The mention of Emma's live-in man-child boyfriend ruffled the fur of the already distressed Mayor, and she spat, "You can just say _your_ house, Miss Swan. I'm aware the pirate lives with you."

Emma sighed and grumbled, "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning."

"Excuse me?"

"I _said_, could you pick up Henry from Tilman's before you come over? He and Nick worked late on their science project, and I let him sleep over."

"Fine," Regina spat feeling an overwhelming loss once more, mixed with the inexplicable pangs of jealousy she disconnected the call with the Savior and threw her phone to the opposite side of the bed.

_Emma's side of the bed._

It wasn't Emma's side of the bed. The blonde didn't have a side of the bed. She's _never_ had a side to the Queen's bed.

Annoyed that her dream had disturbed her so profoundly, she got up and started her morning.

* * *

Emma sat in the single-seat recliner posed on the opposite side of the room and watched as the heroes squabbled over what to do about their latest major catastrophe. Of course, a child was missing, and she should be concerned about that fact, but she couldn't focus on the what if's and maybe's that were being tossed around by her parents.

Despite sitting as far away from the action as possible, and making it clear she would rather be alone in the one person chair, her on again off again boyfriend, Killian took up a seat on the armrest and draped his good hand around the back of the seat, crowding into her in the process. He smelled of booze and under cleaned leather. She couldn't be certain if the man had been actively drinking or not as he woke up smelling this way.

She watched her son's other mother, Regina, as she assisted Snow White in making arguments for the search and rescue of the child in question. As they went back and forth, she noticed the Queen was getting more and more agitated by the fairies who were insisting Blue had nothing to do with the child's disappearance.

She noted every once in a while, Regina would place her hand over her abdomen, and whenever she did, her stress vein would pop, and she would attack the nearest nun. Her dream came back to her in bits and pieces, and she mourned the loss of something that had never existed.

"We all know how you are with children, love. It's no secret you were willing to use them as pawns in the past." The thick accent of her boyfriend registered within her and green eyes focused to attention on angry black onyx. Regina looked as though she wanted to burn a hole through the pirate, and Emma knew she had the necessary skill set to do so.

"I had nothing to do with stealing Rumplestiltskin's newborn, _swine_."

The bite to her tone had Emma standing to get between the two that always seemed to be a notch below blows. She broke the 'if looks could kill' gaze and brown eyes softened as Emma came into focus. The Savior used the moment as an opportunity to pull the woman away from the rest of the group who was bickering in her living room.

"Hey, I'm sorry. He didn't mean _you_."

The Queen folded her arms around herself and grumbled, "He most certainly _did_."

Emma looked down at the flat abdomen of the Mayor and continued with her thought, "I know you hate him, but he _does_ make a point."

"Excuse me?"

"I just mean ever since your 'other half' came back into town, things have gotten a little squirrely, babe." Emma's eyes grew wide as what she said registered, and she stumbled out a plausible explanation for the slip, "I'm sorry, I've been trying new pet names with Killian, so I don't have to call him the Killy he is insisting on."

"Just when I think he couldn't get any worse," Regina said with distaste, her jealousy brimming over into her snark.

"It's cringy, I know."

Regina afforded her friend a soft, sympathetic smile then got back to the point, "I know better than anyone how the Evil Queen thinks. It wouldn't be to her benefit to get on the Dark One's bad side."

Emma pulled the corners of her mouth down in a tight contemplative look then said, "That leaves the hooded figure. He is the only unknown variable."

"I agree."

"We need to find him. Do you think you can talk to Robin and get the Merry Men out tracking?"

Regina looked confused when she asked, "Robin?"

Their teenage son interrupted them by asking, "Hey, is it okay if I go out to see Violet?"

Regina's attention was drawn away from the fact she'd practically forgotten she had a boyfriend and snapped, "_Again_, Henry?"

Emma gave a little shrug and said, "Only if your mother says it's okay."

"Please, mom? This hero crisis doesn't need the Author, can I please go see her?"

The leather-clad man-child came up behind Emma and wrapped his hooked arm around her, sharply pulling her into him when he quipped, "Musn't get in the way of a lad and his lass!" He held up his hand for the boy to give him a high five, but Henry shot him a look that is mirrored in his blonde mother's face, and Killian begrudgingly lowered his hand.

"I don't remember giving you parental rights over my child," Regina snapped, entirely over the pirate and his flagrant groping hand as it traveled down the back of her friend.

"Come on, man," Emma sighed and closed her eyes in irritation and that small gesture eased off the Mayor's anger.

Killian looked genuinely confused and asked, "What?"

"You wouldn't like it if someone butted into parenting your child, would you?"

He pulled her closer and said with a playful smile, "Don't you mean _our_ child, love?"

Emma looked at Regina and shook her head when she said, "Well I wouldn't let Regina try and parent any kids I didn't share with her," She broke her gaze and added, "And I'm not going to let you get in between decisions for any kids I _do_ share with her."

He pulled the Savior close and spoke into her ear, "If the boy goes out, we'll have the house to ourselves." His voice was low, but his words were clearly spoken, and both Regina and Henry shrunk back in disgust.

"Oh my god," Henry exclaimed and put his hands over his ears as Regina reached out and helped him cover them.

The Mayor shot them a glare when she hissed, "Miss Swan, would you mind controlling your pirate?"

"I'm going to Violet's, or pretty much anywhere that's not here," Henry said and pulled away from his brunette mother.

Hook watched the boy go, then turned back to the Queen he quipped, "I suppose with the house to yourself, the thief will get lucky too?"

Regina scoffed in disgust, "Wouldn't _you_ like to know?"

The pirate licked his lips and said, "Only in fine detail, love."

Regina huffed away from the couple and tossed over her shoulder, "You are a lewd wretch, Killian Jones."

"I prefer devilishly handsome," the pirate called with a laugh.

"I'm sure you do," Regina said in a low grumble as she returned to the main group.

Emma brushed off Killian's hook and snapped, "Seriously, you need to stop needling her."

Blue eyes softened, and he pouted out his lip and whined, "But that's all the fun I have anymore." His lips curled up into a smirk, and he added, "Unless you'd like to provide me with a little fun, Swan, I'm sure we could come to an arrangement."

Emma's mouth dropped open, and her instinct was to tell the man to go to hell, to stop hounding her for sex when there are bigger things in the world to be concerned with, but then she looked to her family and remembered why she'd settled down with him. His sacrifices and moral compass changes were all due to his love for her. She made him want to be a better man and wasn't that the point of being with someone? To inspire them to be greater? She loved him in return, right?

Her eyes focused on a particular brunette and remembered the changes the love for their son inspired and how those changes opened the woman up to a whole new way of approaching her life. How she found love with her soulmate as a result. It was the same with Killian Jones. His adoration for the Savior was the catalyst to put aside his petty selfishness and focus on things that mattered. _Emma_.

No one had ever put Emma Swan at the top of their priority list the way Killian had. He lived for her. He was inspired by her. He changed for her. Green eyes focused back on the man who was studying her intently, and she said, "For me? Will you please lay off Regina, for me?"

A small smile pulled at the corner of the man's lips, and he tucked a stray piece of blonde hair around her ear and said, "For you, I would do anything, Swan."


	4. Chapter 4

Still aggravated from the meeting, Regina got home to find an arrow sticking out of one of the pristine white pillars that surrounded her porch. Upon closer inspection, there was a piece of parchment tied to the shaft, and the Queen rolled her eyes and grumbled, "He really needs to get a cell phone."

She pulled the arrow tip out of the wood and repaired the damage with magic before entering her home. The meeting hadn't produced the solutions they all needed in regards to Rumple's missing child nor with their mysterious hooded guest, and Regina felt as though the entire thing had been a colossal waste of her time.

She'd been distracted. It was a culmination of a variety of things, but in the end, she was unable to focus on a resolution to their current problems. The fading dream she had from the previous evening lingered, and the feelings it caused couldn't be shaken. The Savior's boyfriend did nothing but stoke her irritation, and even the memory of him pawing at the blonde caused excessive anger and his penchant for getting under the Mayor's skin only added gas to the flame.

For a change, her former step-daughter hadn't been the source of irritation, and much to her surprise, the woman had taken her side on almost every issue. It seemed inconceivable and a little jarring at first, but eventually, she eased into the idea that the younger brunette wasn't a complete idiot. The fact of the matter was, she didn't really know the woman the little girl had grown into. Other than being the same sentimental sop, Snow White was intuitive. Adaptive. Skilled. Regina felt a sense of pride in her former step-daughter but kept the sentiment to herself, astonished at the realization that she'd truly forgiven the younger woman.

In fact, Snow was a shining light of intellect in comparison to the rest of them. Belle was distraught to the point of being useless, and it had taken every ounce of her willpower not to suggest that it was her own fault for letting the infant out of her sight to begin with. The old Regina would never have had an issue voicing such an opinion, but she was _good_ now. Her darker urges had been stripped from her, and she had greater control over her insensitive comments.

Despite Emma's cautionary pleas and the subsequent miscalculation of the Evil Queen's resilience, she felt separating her darker self had been the right decision. It took time to get used to, but it seemed as though all of her relationships improved as a result. The unforeseen repercussions of the decision were that, on occasion, she felt resentment that her full and complete self had never been good enough for anyone. Even though she fought with her nature and won out over her dark impulses, Robin had still urged her to go through with taking the serum.

Next to perhaps Snow White, Robin Hood was the epitome of righteousness. He knew the moral high ground far better than she did. So after the blowup she had during a town hall meeting, she'd been so angry she could literally spit fireballs from her fingertips, he'd made the suggestion to use Jekyll's serum since it had worked so well for the scientist.

The idea itself, she was sure, had come from a place of love, and that was what she said when she discussed the idea with her best friend. Emma, however, had been livid at the mere suggestion that Regina needed the procedure and had little qualms about voicing her opinions to the thief himself. In the end, Regina chose Robin's side, knowing that he was her soulmate and had her best interests at heart, always. He loved her, and if pulling her darkness out would make it easier on everyone as he'd suggested, then what harm could it do? She was tired of fighting her dark impulses; it would resolve both issues.

She untied the twine that bound the parchment to the wooden shaft of the arrow and read Robin's love note in old English script. Say what you will of his aspirations, but the man was a romantic. Despite the schoolgirl feelings his gushing love note inspired, she was grateful that at the end of the letter he had apologized for his absence and found herself a bit more than thankful he hadn't expected to come over for the evening.

She had a trying day and felt little to no desire to cater to him that night. She folded up the note and made herself ready for bed, wanting little more than to put the entire day behind her.

* * *

Emma Swan curled into a warm, sweet-smelling body and realized that her crazy dreams were just that, and she let out a relieved sigh. They'd felt so real while she was having them and now that she was awake, they started to fade from her mind. Her hand slid up under her wife's silken pajamas to caress soft skin, just relieved to be able to do so. As she explored the smooth expanse of Regina's hip, the brunette stirred, turning ever so slightly with a whiney moan.

Emma smiled at how adorable Regina's protruding lower lip looked and said, "I'm sorry if I woke you, babe."

"It's okay, I was having a bad dream."

A hiss of pain came from the pregnant woman, and Emma asked, "What's wrong, baby?"

Regina shifted uncomfortably and said, "My back hurts. I must have slept oddly."

"Come here, let me take a look at that for you." Emma pushed away the sleep shirt, and strong fingers dug skillfully into the Mayor's lower back muscles.

"Oh, god, Emma!"

"How does that feel?"

All she got was a groan in response, and she continued to work her fingers into the tight tissue until she felt the woman relax back into her.

Emma moved the long dark locks away from the base of her wife's neck and placed a gentle kiss. The shiver that small act produced within the brunette did not go unnoticed and Emma pecked another, longer kiss to the back of Regina's neck. The older woman's hips slid back and pressed against Emma's pelvis, igniting her desire, causing her to thrust into them.

She whispered into the shell of her ear, "You're so beautiful, Regina. I don't tell you that often enough."

A half-hearted scoff sounded from deep within the relaxed Queen, and Emma added, "I mean it. You are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in my life."

"Even as a life-sized walrus?"

Emma chuckled and wrapped her arm around her large pregnant belly and pulled her gently around so she could look into her eyes and said, "You've never been more beautiful than pregnant with our child."

"How on earth can you find this," she motioned to herself and finished with disgust, "attractive?"

"There is no scenario, in any realm in this universe that I wouldn't find you attractive, my queen," she replied then leaned in and kissed soft lips. After a moment the Queen kissed her back, and when she did, Emma's arousal heated up. She let her hands travel down and stopped when her fingers got to the tops of Regina's pajama bottoms. She broke their fevered kissing to ask, "Is this okay?"

Dark eyes looked into green, and as soon as the brunette nodded her permission, Emma slipped below the waistband of silky pajama bottoms and covered the Queen's mound. She tentatively slipped into the slick folds of the Mayor, and the desire she found pooled at her apex caused the Savior to groan.

The brunette hissed, "Oh god, just like that!"

Emma leaned in and nipped at her wife's earlobe and began stroking the length of her sex, causing her to buck her hips.

"I… I want you to…"

Regina let out a frustrated groan, and Emma asked breathlessly, "You want me to what, baby? I'll do anything, tell me what you need."

Another frustrated groan gripped the Queen, and she cried out, "I need this," motioning to her stomach, "out of the way!"

Emma smiled wide and said, "I can reach just fine, see?" She slid up and circled the hard nub at the top of her wife's sex, causing her entire body to quake.

"Emma I want you to… fff…" Regina hissed as she bit her tongue and reworded her tightly wound command, "I need you _inside_ of me."

"You want me to _fuck_ you, Your Majesty?"

A loud moan and thrusting hips were the Savior's answer, and Emma pulled away from her wife's sex and commanded, "Turn on your side."

Once the Queen did as she was told, Emma slid Regina's pajama bottoms off, then moved her leg up, so she had access to the woman's sex. Soft black curls tucked between soft milky thighs caused Emma to gasp in awe, and she tentatively ran her knuckles against her wife's lips, parting them and sinking into the heated center of her opening.

"Oh god, you feel so good, Regina!"

"Please, Emma, more!"

Emma did as she was told and filled the older woman, as commanded. She slid the pads of her fingers along her G-spot before thrusting back into her, causing Regina to grip the pillow her baby bump rested on and cried out. Emma leaned back down and commanded, "Stroke your clit for me."

"What? No, I…"

"Do it," Emma demanded and felt the tight channel grip her as Regina gasped. "Now," the word was hissed just at the shell of her ear and Emma smiled when the Queen's hand disappeared between her own thighs. "That's my good girl. Stroke yourself as I _fuck you_, Regina." She enunciated the curse word as she thrust into her wife and with bucking hips and melodic cries of ecstasy, the brunette climaxed all around her. She stilled her thrusts and laid gentle kisses to the woman's neck and shoulder and waited for her to come down off of her bliss.

Soft kisses gave way, and the women started to drift back off to sleep when Emma's cell phone rang. "Seriously?" Emma gruffed and reached behind her to answer the phone.

Regina was pulled from the ecstasy of the Savior's love, and she groaned with a pout, "Tell whoever it is they're getting a sleeping curse for the holidays."

"Hey, Dad, what's up?"

The brunette shifted to get comfortable once more and mumbled, "Oh good, it's David, at least your mother is familiar with the curse he's getting for Christmas."

"Wait, how many?" Emma sat up and paid closer attention to the call she was on, and Regina turned and noted the worried scowl on her wife's face.

"Alright, go ahead and finish casing the scene, and I'll meet you down at the station in 45 minutes," Emma said and hung up the phone. Regina put her hand on the muscular bicep of the Savior and asked, "What happened?"

"Five more people have gone missing."

"Five? Since _yesterday_?"

Emma nodded her head tightly and then leaned down and kissed Regina before getting up and getting ready for work.


	5. Chapter 5

When Emma arrived at the station, Deputy Lucas was handling the phones and handed Emma a small pile of pink missed call messages. She covered the receiver and whispered, "Those are new. There's more in your office."

"Awesome," Emma deadpanned when she started to read through the messages and walked toward her office. As she opened the glass door, David Nolan stumbled into the main office area, out of breath and clutching his arm.

"Dad? Are you okay?"

The man nodded and breathlessly exclaimed, "I was attacked!"

"Where?"

"The crime scene. The woods. A skillful warrior disarmed me, then almost dis-armed me!" He raised the arm in question, and Emma saw the blood leaking from the sleeve of his shirt.

"Oh shit," the brunette said as she hung up the phone and rushed to the man's side. "Sit down, Charming!" The wolf pulled out a medical kit and began tending to his wounds.

Seeing the young woman had control over the blond man's injury, Emma shifted into cop mode and asked, "Who attacked you?"

"I didn't get a good look at him, but he had catlike reflexes!"

"How tall? Hair color? Weight? Age approximation?" Emma encouraged.

"I don't know. They were in a black robe, and their head was covered. All I know is that he was unnaturally fast and extremely powerful."

"Like a sith lord?" Ruby asked, looking entirely too serious for the question.

"Seriously?"

The brunette looked up at the blonde and defended, "I'm Red Riding Hood, and he's Prince Charming."

Emma rolled her eyes and turned back to her father's interrogation. "Powerful _how_?"

"When he broke my sword, he used magic to pick up the handle off of the forest floor."

"Great," Emma said, then pulled out her phone to call her wife, but remembered Regina was about to pop and didn't need any added stress, so she called Rumplestiltskin instead.

The phone rang entirely too long, and when Belle's voice answered, she sounded distressed. "Rumple, is that you?"

"No, it's Emma. I gather he's not in?"

"He's missing!"

"Rumple's missing too?" Emma asked, shocked.

"I filed a report with Deputy Lucas this morning."

"I just got in, I'm sorry Belle and... crap," she paused before asking, "You wouldn't happen to know why a magic-wielding swordsman would need a broken sword?"

"Excuse me?"

Emma sighed and said, "Nevermind." She was at a loss as to where to start. With Rumple missing, she would need to rely on either Regina or the fairies, and neither option sounded good to her.

She got off the phone with Belle and called her mother. After reassuring Mary Margaret her husband was okay, Emma asked if they were still on for lunch that day. She had no idea what to do about the missing townsfolk and felt that alarming her wife with a missing Dark One this close to their due date was simply out of the question.

When Emma finally made it to Granny's, her mother was already there and sitting in what they playfully called _their booth_ right in the middle of the diner. After years of awkward family moments, she'd finally come to terms with their past and settled into a real relationship with her parents. The kind of relationship she'd always craved from her mother. They were friends. _Good friends._ The woman was only second to the likes of Regina Mills when it came to getting life advice, and that day, Emma needed her mother's clarity.

When she approached, the pixie-haired brunette looked up, and a large warm smile crossed her fair features. She got up and hugged her, and Emma briefly thought that her mother's hugs were the best thing in the entire world. They were everything she'd ever imagined them to be. Warm and full-bodied with total acceptance.

Snow pulled away and kissed her daughter's cheek and asked as she fussed with her blonde hair, "How are you? Are you getting enough sleep?"

Emma was reminded of the dream she had the night before and shook her head and said, "No, but I think I'm just worried about everything."

Snow pulled back and brushed away a stray blonde strand and asked, "Define everything, sweetheart."

"Just the baby, and Regina is acting weird, and Henry's acting up, and stuff with the town, you know, _everything_."

"Does your town worries have to do with your father's accident this morning?" Snow asked and guided her to take a seat before settling down herself next to Emma's sleeping brother.

"Yeah," Emma said and picked up the iced tea her mother had pre-ordered for her and took a sip. "Is there any fairy tale that has like large primates?"

"Primates?"

"_Flying_ primates. Like bigfoot, but with wings."

"Flying monkeys? As in the Wizard of Oz?"

"Oh crap, is that real?"

"Not that I'm aware of, sweetheart."

"But it _could_ be," Emma asked with a sinking feeling.

"I suppose."

"Did the wicked witch, like, _kidnap_ people?"

"I honestly hadn't heard of Oz until I came to this realm and then I'm afraid I wasn't exactly a fan. I think it may just be a fairy tale."

"Well, flying monkeys are more plausible than flying bigfoot." Emma considered for a moment and then texted Ruby to find out everything she can about Oz lore and origin then turned back to her mother and said, "That's the best lead we've got, and although a new witch in town doesn't give me warm fuzzies, lore says she does kidnap people, then that's a good start on what happened to our missing persons. Thanks, mom."

"You're welcome, sweetheart." A wide satisfied smile crossed the Princess' face at being able to help her adult daughter.

Once they placed their order for lunch, Snow asked, "What's going on with Regina?"

Emma worried her lip and considered the few changes she's noticed in her wife's behavior lately and replied, "She's forgetting things."

"She _is_ in her 70's," Snow said with a playful smirk.

"God, don't ever say that to her," Emma grumbled. "I mean she told Henry she couldn't have children yesterday, as if she forgot we shared true loves kiss."

"That sounds like pregnancy brain to me, honey."

Emma considered and tried to remember if she had similar lapses when she was pregnant with Henry, but couldn't recall such blatant oversights. "I don't know, maybe," she conceded.

"With Neal, I bought two car seats because I forgot I'd already purchased one and when I was pregnant with you, I repeatedly told your father to hang up the mobile over your crib even though he'd done as I'd asked." Snow reached out and took Emma's hand and smiled in that reassuring way she did and added, "Memory gaps come with the territory. It'll go away after Duckie is born, I promise."

Emma held her mother's hand with feeling and spoke the real fear she felt, "I'm just worried about her."

"You love her, of course you are." Snow patted the back of her hand then picked up her ice water and asked, "Has Regina expressed concern over these gaps?"

"No, you know Gina."

"I do," Snow contemplated and said, "I know that if she were worried about it, then I'd be worried about it, but if she isn't, then I wouldn't be. She has an unwavering sense of self-preservation, and she would never do anything to put that baby in danger."

Emma smiled and then took a deep breath and agreed, "You're right. You're always right." She shook her head when she remembered flashes of the nightmare she had the previous evening and said, "I'm just being ridiculous. I had a bad dream about Regina and the baby last night, and it's really put me off. Thanks for letting me vent."

"I joke about Regina being geriatric, but her body is that of a 32-year-old. Nothing is going to happen to her during this birth."

"It wasn't that kind of dream," Emma replied with a frown. It had been months since she's worried about the vitality of her daughter and Regina's health during the pregnancy.

"What kind of nightmare was it?"

"That Duckie didn't exist, and Regina didn't love me."

"Oh honey," Snow said with an empathetic look.

"I know. It was terrible. We were back to bouncing Henry back and forth, and I was dating some over the top pirate and," Emma covered her eyes and rested her head against the palms of her hands and sighed, "It was just… it seemed so real. When I woke up, I almost cried because I was so happy she was next to me."

"Oh, sweetheart! It was just a dream. Despite everything we've been through, that woman loves you. I think you're simply adjusting to the changes your life is taking, and it's manifesting in your worst fears, that's all."

"Yeah. I _am_ pretty anxious about Duckie's arrival."

Did you guys finally decide on a name or are we just using Duckie forever?"

"No. She won't even discuss it with me. She said names have power and she doesn't want to, I don't know, jinx it until Duckie gets here and is safe."

"Names _do_ have power, Emma."

The look of regret on her mother's face said it all and Emma gave her a sympathetic smile and said, "I know. That's why I'm not pushing her. I have some ideas of what I want already, but we haven't discussed it. Once she comes, and Regina relaxes, then we'll come up with something." She was reassuring herself just as much as she was her mother because the Queen barely gave the list she made a second glance citing not wanting to corrupt her thoughts with "what could be's."

* * *

Emma entered the large white mansion she shares with her growing family and found her wife in their room, cocooned in piles of fluffy pillows and blankets. Her feet were propped up, and she was looking particularly miserable.

"What happened?"

"You knocked me up," the Mayor said with a pout.

Emma stripped off her jacket and got into more comfortable clothing as she asked, "Since then?"

"Nothing. My legs are cramping."

Emma sighed and leaned down and kissed Regina's forehead. "Take off your pants." She pulled out the moisturizer and began squirting a healthy glob in the palm of her hand.

"Didn't you just give me a foot massage the other day?"

"Last night," Emma smiled when she corrected, then got comfortable. "But I'll rub your feet every single day if you want me to." She lifted one leg, and meticulously covered it with the cream in her hand then slowly started to work the tight muscles.

Regina groaned and said, "I don't deserve you."

Emma kissed Regina's big toe and said, "I wouldn't want to live in a world where you aren't mine."

The statement struck a chord within the Mayor, and she opened her eyes to look over the doting Sheriff as she tended to her aches and pains. "Emma?"

Green eyes flicked up, and a small smile crossed her fair features when she asked, "Yeah?"

"I love you."

The smile widened, and she replied, "I know, babe."

"No, I mean it. I'm honestly in love with you." Regina said the words as if they were for the first time, and she felt the walls of her throat tense up, and the backs of her eyes start to prickle in her upset.

Emma crawled over to Regina's side and laid down next to her, putting a protective hand around their unborn child she leaned in to kiss her and said, "I love you, too."


	6. Chapter 6

Henry Mills woke up in his bedroom at the home he shared with his birth mother and her boyfriend, Killian Jones. His dreams were still fresh in his mind in a fantasy that had both of his mothers in the same household and a sibling on the way. He remembered the eerie taunting of his classmates as they bullied him for his unorthodox home life and tried to push the feelings he had about that aside.

He was _unique_; the author. With a group of friends and more importantly, a girlfriend, he wasn't the awkward bookworm and son of the Evil Queen. His adoptive mother was the Good Queen now. She removed her darkness and joined the heroes in protecting the townsfolk's lives. She used light magic now, just as his birth mother did. There was nothing in his life that he would change.

He didn't particularly like the men either of his mothers chose to share their lives with; one tried too hard, and the other didn't try at all. However, both of his moms seemed happy and so he tolerated them. The two women he loved most in the world were getting their happy endings. His adoptive mother, who had changed her destiny for him. His birth mother, who was known for running from her problems, had opened herself up to the possibility of home and family. Permanence. He loved them unconditionally, and they both strived to be their best for him. The least he could do was suffer the discomfort of the men in his mother's lives provided for the short time he'd be living at home. He was sixteen, and almost a man himself, and all he wanted was for his mothers to both be taken care of the way they deserved.

He got up out of bed and scurried down the hall to the bathroom only to realize someone was already taking a shower. If it's his mom, she would be in and out in no time, but if it's the pirate, he would take a literal eternity and Henry would be forced to walk up the street to his adoptive mother's house or relieve himself on a bush in the backyard.

He leaned his ear against the wooden door and listened for anything that would give him a clue as to the occupant. He pulled away when he identified the agonizing sobs of his blonde mother and worry crossed his pale features. He considered knocking and going in to see what was the matter, but he heard her sniffle back and sigh before she said to herself, "It's not real. Stop being an idiot."

He knew his mom still struggled with things from her childhood that he didn't quite understand, so instead of intruding, he backed away from the door and went downstairs.

Killian was standing in the kitchen in his boxer shorts looking into the fridge with confusion. Henry hated the way the man almost flaunted the fact that he was intimate with Emma every chance he got, no matter who was around. He was always grabbing her, pawing at her, kissing her, rubbing up against her. He was like a dog in heat and Henry did his best to ignore it when they first started dating, but when Killian and Emma moved in together, the pirate started walking around the house nearly nude. It made all of the things he did to Emma in front of the boy all the more real and made him extremely uncomfortable.

"Hey," Henry greeted.

"Just the lad I wanted to see! Your mother seems to be," Killian's blue eyes looked up, searching for the right word before continuing, "not quite herself this morning. How about you help me cook her a hearty breakfast?"

Henry wanted to pry to ask if she was alright; to find out why she was crying but he wasn't entirely sure the pirate knew of Emma's bathroom breakdown and didn't want to add to whatever had her upset by embarrassing her, so he simply nodded and said, "That sounds great."

"Good form!" The pirate exclaimed with a cartoony smile and handed him a carton of eggs.

After suffering through helping make pancakes with Hook, Henry rolled his eyes as the man insisted that he explain every single step to him. The bacon was a little less tedious as there was little in the way of instruction, and the concept of baking was still just out of the pirate's forte.

Hook took a single egg and put it in the boy's hand and set the burner low on the stove and said, "Now, everyone should know how to crack an egg using one hand."

Henry laughed and asked, "Why on earth would I need to know such a thing?"

Killian looked him in the eye and pointed his hook in his direction before saying, "You never know."

Henry laughed harder, mostly because the man was serious. Once he'd calmed himself, he said, "You do know that if I were to lose a hand, I'm the author, I could just write myself a new one."

"I'm disappointed in you." The all too stern tone of the pirate rubbed Henry the wrong way, and he lost his amusement. Hook continued to scold him and said, "That is an abuse of power, son."

Henry pursed his lips and said, "You know all about the abuse of power, don't you?"

The shocked look on the dark man's features caused Henry to roll his eyes and come at the situation a different way, "Alright, fine. Both of my mother's know magic. They aren't going to let me go around with a hook for a hand in the exceedingly off chance I lose a limb."

Henry's attention was drawn to one of said mother's who was on her cell phone as she came down the stairs. He heard her mention the hooded man to whomever it was on the other end of the line and the need for action against him. He watched as she strode passed the kitchen when Hook called out, "Love? Fancy some breakfast?"

Her blonde head poked out with a surprised look on her face and answered, "Uh, no thanks. I'm not hungry."

"Mom?"

"Yeah, kid?"

"Why haven't you used magic to fix Hook's hand?"

Green eyes looked worried between the two in her kitchen, and she tossed an unapologetic hand in the air and replied, "He already has the nickname? I don't know. I gotta go, savioring stuff."

Henry turned back to Killian when the front door slammed shut signaling his mother's departure, and said, "Well I'm her kid, and she wouldn't let me go around with a hook for a hand and if she did, my _other_ mom wouldn't."

A tight, uncomfortable smile crossed the dark features of the pirate, and he asked, "How is she treating you?"

"Who?"

"Regina," the man replied as he resumed preparing their breakfast.

Henry shook his head in confusion and said, "Fine, why?"

"I understand a mother can get too attached to her son, and sometimes that feels smothering to a young lad." Careful blue eyes were brimming with concern and Henry took a step back and folded his arms around himself before defending, "She doesn't smother me."

A dark eyebrow lifted in skepticism and Henry amended, "She isn't too attached to me."

"She doesn't come between you and your young lass?"

"No."

"So things are going well between you and fair Violet?"

Pale features pull down with confusion and the boy stumbled out an awkward answer, "Well? Yeah, I guess. What do you mean?"

"I mean, have you closed the deal?"

Henry felt the flush of embarrassment as it filled his cheeks and wasn't sure what the pirate's point was. "Are you asking if we've kissed?"

"I'm asking if you've _deflowered_ your Violet."

"I don't think I'm comfortable talking about that with you."

"Oh, so you _have_!" An oily smile crossed the older man's face, and Henry felt the full weight of his discomfort then excused himself when Killian started to ask more personal questions about the encounter and went to his room.

He tried to push the uncomfortable way he felt having the pirate talk about his girlfriend like that and pulled out a blank storybook from his shelf. Tucked inside was the author's pen, and as soon as he touched it, his hand hummed with power. He thought about what the man said about abusing his power and knew that despite his past, Killian was right. However, taking a peek to see if he could shed some light on the identity of the hooded man wasn't exactly an abuse of power. It was helping the Savior. It was being a hero. It was helping his mother stay safe because information was power.

With determination, he relaxed and allowed the magic to flow through him, and soon his wrist was moving quickly over the blank page, and an image of the man unhidden by his cloak was neatly drawn out.


	7. Chapter 7

Henry texted his blonde mother and asked her where she was. He didn't get into what he's done and simply requests her location. After waiting a teenaged eternity, he ripped out the drawing and folded it up and stuffed it into his back pocket then headed out the door with his brunette mother's home as his destination.

Emma purchased the home she shared with Killian only a few blocks away from his adoptive mother's mansion. The blonde cited ease of custody as the reason for the close proximity, and in the early days, Henry loved having two rooms where he could decorate each to his liking. There'd been downsides as well like wanting to play a specific game, but forgetting the copy he had was at his other parent's house, but the closeness of the women's homes made a quick trip with his bicycle, so the downsides had only been mildly inconvenient. The biggest drawback was never feeling as though he had a home. It was Emma's place or Mom's house. Sure he called both _home_, but with the introduction of his mom's boyfriends, it felt more and more like they were creating lives of their own, and he didn't always feel included in those plans.

When he arrived at the mansion, he noticed the yellow bug immediately and figured this was the reason why the blonde hadn't returned his text. He felt the vibration in his jacket pocket as he dumped his bike in the driveway and checked his cell phone.

The words that were written were from his mother, but they were from his other, other OTHER mother. He felt his mouth dry up as he wondered what he would do about her request. She wanted to see him. Unlike Regina and Emma, Henry didn't view the Evil Queen as _evil_. He saw her as the woman she was before the curse was broken. Emotionally distant and cool in the way of her affection sometimes, yes, but she was still his _mother_. He wasn't afraid of her as some of the other townsfolk had been.

_As Regina had been._

Emma wasn't afraid of the Evil Queen either, and he suspected his blonde mother viewed the darker half of his adoptive mother the same way he did. She'd faced the Evil Queen and had lived. Henry firmly believed that it was his love and Emma's acceptance that changed Regina enough to put her on the right path and he hoped that perhaps that love and acceptance could be the path for the Evil Queen as well.

She was the same woman after all. He wanted to give it a try at least, and her reaching out to him was the first step.

**Henry: This isn't some crazy scheme to hurt my moms, right?**

**EQ: You're my son, just as much as you are theirs. I simply want to see you, darling.**

Henry considered what he knew of his adoptive mother before the curse broke and stories he'd overheard his grandparents tell and decided to inform his mom's and see if they would even allow it.

**Henry: I'd like to see you. I'll let you know when.**

Henry stuffed his phone in his pocket and headed into the mansion. He could hear the distinct voices of both of his mother's talking, and as he got closer to the living room, he caught the tail end of their conversation.

"We'll figure this out, _together_, okay?"

"I just can't imagine who or what would be brave enough to take Gold's kid, Regina. I'm rattled, and I feel off my game. This doesn't seem right."

"Well, you're not alone. You may be the savior, but I've _always_ got your back." Regina's eyes looked up from where she was seated on the couch next to his blonde mother and exclaimed, "Henry? You're home?"

He blushed, knowing he'd been caught eavesdropping and said, "Yeah, mom wasn't answering her texts."

Emma pulled out her cell phone from her jacket and said, "Sorry, I have it on silent."

Regina looked surprised and asked, "Silent? Emma, why?"

The blonde shrugged and mumbled, "Hook. Snow. The convent. Take your pick."

"You can't just ignore your phone, what if something happens?" Regina watched as Emma flicked through her missed call log before answering, "Someone would call you?"

The brunette folded her arms across her chest and grumbled, "That isn't the point, and you know it."

Another shoulder shrug came with a muttered, "Sue me."

Henry could see the tension between his two mothers and chose to divert their attention from one another back to him so they wouldn't fight. "I want permission to go see my other mom."

Emma looked confused and asked, "What _other_ mom?"

"_The Queen,_" Henry stated, unable to add the term evil to his mother's title. It had been a long time since she was the Evil Queen in his mind, and he didn't want to go back to feeling that way about her.

"Henry! Don't call her that! She's _not_ your mother! She's dangerous. Who knows what she'll do if she gets her claws into you," Regina said with a sour face.

"Claws is a little harsh, don't you think? I forgot she was even an issue," Emma said with a shrug.

"How could you forget that my darker self is running around, causing havoc? That's probably who is under the cloak in your visions."

The mention of the hooded man reminded Henry of why he sought out his blonde mother and said, "It isn't _her_." He pulled out the carefully folded drawing from his back pocket and handed it to Emma. "The hooded figure is a _man_."

Emma looked over the drawing and then back up at Henry and asked, "You used your powers to do this, didn't you?"

"I did. What use is having them if I can't help you fight bad guys?" He felt his cheeks blush at being caught abusing his powers and used his darker mother as another diversion, "Now that you know my mom isn't the one in the hood, can I please see her?"

Emma stood up and raked her fingers through her hair and started to pace as she looked at the drawing of the man in her visions. She _knew_ him; instinctively.

An old insecurity reared its head when Regina asked, "Did you reach out to her or-"

"She texted me."

Emma stopped her worrying strides and questioned, "The Evil Queen can use a cell phone?"

"She has all of my memories, Emma, and I'm rather proficient with technology."

Emma slammed her eyes closed as she saw a flashing scene before her. Gold and Belle standing on either side of the man in Henry's drawing, his sword drawn, Gold's thick black magic pooling around him. They are afraid, not of the man in black, but _for_ him. Emma saw herself raise a sword to defend against the blows of the man, but he was relentless and eventually disarms her. The strike clatters the metal to the pavement and then the slick pain of the man's weapon entering her abdomen gripped her, and she wavered on her feet.

Regina noticed the Savior's eyes roll into the back of her head and instinctively stood to catch her swooning friend. Guiding her to the couch, she quickly instructed Henry to get a glass of water. As Emma came back around from her near-miss with unconsciousness, Regina's attention is pulled toward the sound of the front door opening and closing, and she called out for Henry.

"I'm here, mom," he said, entering the living room with a worried look and a glass in his hand.

Regina placed her hands on either side of the Savior's face and said her name in a firm tone, pulling her back into focus.

"Regina?"

The confused sound in her voice, coupled with how she looked around the room, told the Mayor that the Savior had just had one of her visions. She'd been witness to past episodes and knew that Emma would be disorientated for only a moment.

"Emma, it's alright. You're safe. Here drink some of this." She handed her the glass and smoothed her hair back away from her face as she watched Emma take a small sip.

"I think I know who he is," Emma said after taking a longer drink of the offered beverage.

"Who?" The deep voice startled both women and Henry whipped around to see Robin standing in the archway of the living room holding a dimple faced Roland.

"Robin?" Regina exclaimed in her surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"It's movie night? Don't tell me you've forgotten?"

Before anyone could say another word Emma was up off of the couch, She shoved the glass onto the coffee table and murmured a terse goodbye as she exited passed the blond man.

"Mom?" Henry called when he saw she'd left her jacket and hurried to catch up with her, but when he was through the door, she was nowhere to be found. Her yellow vehicle stood quiet, parked where she left it.

Henry was annoyed that his mom's boyfriend had intruded and expected for Regina to do what she always does and make some excuse as to why it was okay, but when he got back into the house to inform her that Emma was gone, his adoptive mother's face held the level of irritation she seemingly felt.

Roland wiggled from Robin's arms and rushed Regina, demanding a big hug. She picked him up hesitantly, and Henry felt his annoyance grow. "She's gone," he said in a terse tone.

"I'm sorry, love, did I interrupt?"

"No, dear," Regina said, her irritation melted away in the embrace of the little boy who had wrapped himself around her.

"Yes," Henry corrected and side-eyed the blond man.

Robin ignored him, as he always did, and leaned in and kissed his mother on the cheek. Seeing them together fueled Henry's jealousy, and he picked up his backpack and informed, "Well I'm going to go meet _my _other mom out at the vault since you're too busy with _your _other family."

"Henry, there's no need to be rude!" Robin scolded as Henry promptly headed toward the front door. Regina put Roland down and snapped, "I'll handle my son." She trotted after Henry and grabbed his arm when he showed no signs of slowing down. "Henry, it isn't like that."

"What is it like? Because it _seems_ like that, mom."

"You're my son. No other child will ever replace you, you know that."

"Do I?" Henry spat. "Don't you like him better because he's little? What if you and Robin have a kid? Like Emma and Hook? Where does that leave me?"

"I'm not having children, Henry. You are all the family I'll ever need, my darling boy."

"What do you mean you're not having children?" Robin accused. "Without even discussing it with me?"

Regina whipped around, patience for the thief gone, and spat, "I can not _have_ children. There is no discussion. That decision was made long ago and even if it hadn't, it's my body and my choice."

"What decision?"

Regina lifted her chin in the face of the truth she was about to admit, "I cursed myself with the inability to conceive."

"Why on earth would you do that?"

"Frankly, that's none of your business!" She sighed when she saw the look of confusion on the man's weathered features and said, "I believe we'll need to postpone movie night. I don't wish to argue in front of the children."

Without hesitation, she began to guide the man and his son toward the door and did her best to reassure him along the way. "I think it's better if we reschedule, dear, Henry needs my attention."

"But Regina, maybe _I_ need your attention."

"Darling, I said I don't want to argue in front of the children, that includes yours," she said in a soothing tone.

"I'm not arguing, I've just missed you, and I don't understand wh-"

She held a strong finger up cutting the man off and said, "You will never come before the needs of my child, am I clear?"

"Yes, but-"

"Goodnight, Robin." She leaned down and patted Roland and said, "Sorry sweetheart, perhaps another time. Okay?"

"Okay, Regina!"

Robin grabbed her hand when she stood back up and said, "Regina, please-"

"Do have an ounce of tact, dear. Even your four-year-old can understand what, 'another time' means."

She pulled her hand away from his grasp and closed the door in his gaping face. Turning, she went back into the living room to find Henry sitting on the couch, leaning over on his knees, typing into his phone.

"Now, do you intend to throw my evil half in my face _every_ time you feel threatened?"

Henry stopped typing and looked up at his mother with an apologetic smirk. "I'm sorry mom. I didn't mean to, I was mad he upset Emma enough to leave."

She wasn't thrilled that Emma up and left the way she had, and the thief had been overly intrusive. Remembering that they'd talked about Robin having keys to her home several months ago, she let go of her irritation and focused more on how upset the Savior had been. She'd noticed a steady decline in her friend's mental health as of late, but anytime she brought up the physical changes in the Savior, she was promptly told to mind her own business. As worried as she was about Emma's visions and how she'd left, she couldn't help but focus on the casual slip by her son about the Swan-Jones family plans. She sat down next to him and cupped her flat abdomen and said, "Are they really considering having children?"

"Hook talks about it all the time. I'm afraid she'll just do it to shut him up."

Regina wrinkled her nose in distaste, "Well, that's no reason to bring a child into the world."

"I'm not really opposed to getting a little um, sister or whatever, I just feel like I don't belong with either of you sometimes. You're with Robin and Roland, and she's with Killian and some future baby, and then there's just me."

"My Prince, it will always be you and me, do you hear me?"

"And Emma?"

"_And_ Emma. The three of us. No matter if she has a gaggle of pirate spawn, she's your mother. With me. We both love you, Henry. You are our son." He leaned into her, and she savored the moment as if it had been a lifetime since she'd felt his love, when it dawned on her. "Henry," Regina said in surprise. "Is that why you are pushing this Evil Queen nonsense? Is she the mother you're choosing because she doesn't have any distractions?"

Henry thought about it for a moment, because the idea had crossed his mind once or twice if he was being honest with himself, but that wasn't the main reason. "No. Not really, I mean, I think I can help her. She doesn't have anyone."

Regina pulled him back into her and stated, "She is up to no good."

"You don't know that."

She brushed his thick brown mop away from his face and said, "I know that better than anyone, Henry."

"Okay, but I think she's sincere. I think she may miss me and as long as she agrees not to use me to hurt you or Emma, I told her I want to see her."

Regina held him back and looked into his eyes as she asked, "You _want_ to see her?"

"She's still you, mom. I love you."

She pulled him back into her and tucked his brown head under her chin and mumbled, "I sometimes wish I never took that serum."

"I think all she needs is love and I don't think she'll try and hurt anyone."

"I disagree with you," Regina said then rolled her eyes and added, "That being said, I'll agree to supervised visitation. Write to her, and set up a time and place, and I will go with you to see her."

Henry exclaimed and fiercely hugged her, "Really? Thanks, mom!"

"Will you please stop calling her mom? It's bad enough I have to share you with Miss Swan."

Henry pulled back and chuckled, "Woo, you only call her that when you're angry with her."

"I'm not angry, but I _am_ concerned. Now, are we okay? I feel the need to go search out your birth mother."

"We're great, mom. Thanks!"

She kissed him on his head then got up from the couch and picked up the blonde's trademark red leather jacket and disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke.


	8. Chapter 8

Regina transported herself to the park near the bay and looked around to get her bearings. She saw Emma sitting on a bench looking out toward the water and headed directly in her direction. The Savior's eyes were red and swollen, but Regina didn't call attention to the apparent upset, and silently sat down next to her friend.

"How did you find me?"

"After all these years you think I don't know where you go when you're upset?" Regina placed her hand over Emma's and said, "I thought you might like your jacket. It's getting dark."

"You didn't come here to make me talk?"

"When has that ever worked?"

Emma grumbled, "Only never."

"Precisely." Regina squeezed the cool hand in hers and changed the subject, "I gave Henry permission to meet up with my evil side. I'm certain she's up to something, but he wants to see her, so I'm allowing it as long as it's supervised. Would you like to join me?"

The blonde's eyebrows pulled down with concern when she asked, "Do you think you'll need backup?"

"No, but I wouldn't mind your company."

An easy smile crossed fair features when Emma said, "Sure, it's a date."

After a long moment in contemplation, Regina asked, "Would you tell me about your vision? Before we were rudely interrupted, you said you thought you knew who the hooded figure was."

"I think he's Gold's kid."

"Gold's child is an infant, Emma."

"I know. I can't explain how I know, but I think somehow he's grown up and he's… I think he's bad."

"Well, your other visions made that part clear. What makes you say that now?"

"I battle him. In my vision. And I lost."

"Emma," Regina said in a soothing tone. "I don't think-"

Emma turned to Regina and said, "This is the final battle of the savior, and I think I'm going to die."

"Well, that is wholly unacceptable! We've been up against far worse than the spawn of the Dark One; we'll get through this _together_."

Emma's eyes glassed up, and she lost control over her emotions and cried, "This isn't how things are supposed to be!"

Regina fought the urge to take up the woman in an embrace and simply said, "I know, darling." She placed a comforting hand between Emma's shoulder blades and without judgment allowed her to cry away her fear.

* * *

Regina came to in the center of Granny's diner with a tall boisterous redhead standing over her, her freckled hands wrapped around Duckie. Stunned she looked to Snow White, who was vigorously agreeing with whatever it was the ginger said.

Startled, Regina demanded, fear evident, "Where… how did I get here?"

Blue eyes looked at her with surprised curiosity when the redhead asked, "Whatever do you mean, darling?"

Regina felt the world start to spin, and she reached out for her mother-in-law and cried, "Snow?"

"Regina? Are you okay?"

She fell into the pixie-haired woman's arms and was surprised when the younger woman held her weight and guided her to the nearest seat.

"I'm calling an ambulance!" Snow exclaimed as she got Regina situated then dialed 9-1-1 from her cellphone.

Regina rested her hand on the swell of her stomach and tried to remember her morning but came up blank. All she could remember was the vivid dream that had her feeling all kinds of off, and in her fear, she barked at the strange woman who was hovering over her, "Get off of me! Stop touching me!"

"Regina, it's going to be okay, they are on their way," Snow said in a soothing voice. "Can you tell me what happened?"

She looked up into comforting green eyes and felt genuinely grateful that the brunette was there with her. "I can't recall how I got here."

The redheaded stranger looked smug and quipped, "Pregnancy brain, that's nothing to be alarmed about."

"It isn't pregnancy brain, you buffoon! My entire morning is gone! I don't remember waking up! I don't remember what I did after waking up! I have no recollection of coming to the diner, and I don't know who you are, and if you touch my baby bump one more time you'll pull back a bloodied stump!"

"Well someone's in a mood," the stranger said and folded her arms over her chest.

Regina felt terror grip her, and she stuttered out, "Ca-call Emma, Snow. Please?"

"Of course, Regina, just relax. Help is on the way." A strong pale hand slid across her shoulders, and she was brought into a protective squeeze. She looked up at the woman who'd once been her enemy, in every sense of the term, and felt comforted by her presence. Snow took charge as she made calls, speaking with authority, and Regina trusted her in a way that felt surprising.

* * *

Long after the doctors examined Regina and determined that there was nothing physically wrong with her, she kicked the charming cheerleading squad out of her room, citing the desire to be alone.

Rolling over onto her side and curling up into a protective ball, she recalled her dream in all of its horrible vividness and cradled her unborn child, the feeling of not having her still fresh in her mind. A life without her family. A life where she didn't have her wife. A life where Emma was going to die.

It was a nightmare, and she couldn't shake it.

Emma barged into the room with a frantic, worried scowl across her face and exclaimed, "What happened?!"

"We're okay. Don't worry."

"Too late!" Emma knelt next to the bed and placed a hand on their unborn child and whispered, "What happened, baby?"

Regina smiled, not necessarily enjoying her wife's concern, simply feeling grateful that she had it and said, "Whale said I suffered from a dissociative episode."

"That's it. Bed rest for the remainder of your pregnancy!"

"That won't be necessary, darling, I'll take it easy there's no need for me to remain in bed."

"Regina, it's a week tops, and I can't do my job if I'm worried about my girls all day."

Regina chuckled and said, "You could do this job with one eye closed, what does it matter anyway?"

Emma lifted her head and said, "We have a flying monkey infestation that needs to be hunted down."

"An infestation? That sounds overdramatic."

"It isn't. I think the people that are missing are the monkeys."

"Why don't you simply ask Rumple to see if-"

"Gold was one of the first to go missing," Emma replied with an apologetic look.

"Rumplestiltskin is missing?! Why didn't you tell me?" The Queen demanded, her panic and shock clearly written across her face.

Emma shook her head and explained, "Because I'm handling it, and I didn't want to stress you out!"

"I could have _helped_, Emma. I'm pregnant not an-"

"Invalid. I _know_. You can help me by taking it easy until Duckie decides she wants to come into this world."

Henry burst into the room with a worried look on his face and climbed into bed with Regina, curling himself around her and asked, "What happened? Is she okay? Are you okay?"

Regina saw how worried he was and pulled him into a full-bodied snuggle, wrapping her arms and legs around him and said, "Everyone is alright, darling."

"Hey!" Emma exclaimed with a pout. "I thought I was the only one to get snuggs!"

Henry's face broke out into a wide smile in the face of his blonde mother's jealousy and looked up and quipped, "I invented snuggs. You're lucky I didn't patent it!"

"There's plenty of me for the both of you," Regina said, kissing her son on his crown.

Emma circled the bed, climbed up and wrapped herself around them both. She leaned in and kissed her wife and felt relieved that she was able to do so. Whatever episode Regina had that day, had rattled her, and she remembered the dream from the night before where the brunette's love was someone else's. She held tight to her family as if she were to let go, she would lose it all.

She felt the tears prickle at the back of her eyes and knew if she stayed in this love-cocoon, she would start to cry, and she didn't want to burden her family with her nightmares. She kissed her wife's head once more, then got up and announced, "I'm going to go tell everyone you two are alright."

Regina pulled a face and asked, "Snow's still here?"

"And Dad."

"Along with half the town," Henry added, refusing to give up his blanket of snuggles.

"Wh-why is the town here?"

"Other than concern for you?"

Regina scoffed before saying, "Concern for the savior's child, maybe."

Emma came back to her wife's side and said with a worried tone, "I thought we were over this, Regina. You know you're part of the community now. You've worked really hard at assimilating; far more than being just the sheriff's wife."

"The _Savior's_ wife," Regina corrected.

"They only care about the savior part when they need their collective asses pulled out of the fire." Emma looked down at her and stroked her black hair and asked, "Are you sure you're alright?"

Regina smiled a little and then answered honestly, "As long as I have you, I am."


	9. Chapter 9

Once Regina was given the all-clear, she was discharged, and the family went home. Henry steered clear of both of his mothers because one was being over the top and overprotective, and the other was uncomfortable and grouchy.

He went to his room and turned on his laptop then remembered that he didn't have someone to talk to on social media. Not about how scared he was that his mom and sister were in the hospital. When he got the news from his grandmother, he'd been walking home alone from school. His speed was extra slow that day because he knew what was waiting for him at the corner to Mifflin Street.

_Jeremy Meyers._ He was a bully and picked on Henry relentlessly ever since the curse broke. The taunting and teasing only became worse when his birth mother and adoptive mother started seeing one another in a romantic capacity, and after they got married, Jeremy began calling him homo Henry. It picked up as a good nickname did, and many of the kids at school teased him by saying the gay was hereditary and that he would be gay too just like his dyke mothers.

He knew he didn't like boys, and being called a homo by his peers didn't really bother him outside of the embarrassing mischaracterization, so for the most part, he shrugged it off. That was when things started to get violent with Jeremy. He tripped him in the hall, pushed him into lockers, dumped him in the garbage can and "playfully" punched him in the arm whenever he could. He hid the bruises, mostly to save Jeremy's life because he knew if his adoptive mother had ever seen them or knew what was going on, there would be hell to pay. She had her dark side fully intact and the magic to back it up, unlike in his dreams where she is pure and unburdened by such darkness.

He got up and made his way to the bathroom, stopping short when he heard a muffled sob come from behind the door. He recognized the cry to be his birth mother and remembered a dream he had once where he didn't come to her aid while she hid away crying to herself and wondered if it was a premonition. In his dream, his mother had been exceedingly upset, and leaving her alone did little to help her, so he gently knocked on the door.

"Ma? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Henry, I'm fine," she cried, poorly masking her upset.

"May I come in?" He pushed, hoping she would accept his help this time.

"I'll be just a minute," she called, and instead of leaving her, he intruded by opening the door.

She was sitting on the floor, her face red, tears streaming down her face. When she noticed him, she quickly got up off of the floor in an attempt to compose herself. He stepped closer to her and wrapped his arms around her and asked, "I'm here if you need to talk to someone, ma."

She hugged him back and took a deep breath and said, "I'm okay, kid. It's just been a long day, and I'm tired."

"Mom and Duckie are okay, though right? Like, you'd tell me if they weren't?"

She pulled back and looked him in the eyes and said, "They are perfect, kid. I swear this is just me being tired. I've been having nightmares that haven't let me have a good night sleep in I can't remember when."

"Maybe if you tell me about them, they'll seem less scary, and you'll stop having them."

She shrugged a little and said, "It's just dreams about not having you guys." She felt the tears brim again, and her voice warbled as she clarified, "You guys are everything to me; I don't know what I would do if you weren't my family."

Henry hugged her again and said, "You're kind of stuck with us, ma. No matter what, we're your family. Even if you and mom didn't love each other, we're still your family."

She kissed him on his head and said, "I know, kid, I'm being silly. I'm just tired, that's all."

"Are you okay now?"

"Yeah. You're the greatest son in the world."

"I know," he said with a smug grin then added, "What I mean is, I really have to pee."

She burst out laughing, then let go of him and said, "The throne room is yours, my lord."

Emma left her son to take care of business and went into her bedroom to check on her wife. The pregnant woman was not pleased about Emma putting her foot down about bed rest, and the look on the Queen's face said it all.

"How are my girls?"

"Your daughter is using my kidney as a punching bag."

"_My_ daughter?" Emma asked as she got undressed for bed.

"When she's being annoying? Yes."

Emma slid on a pair of boxer shorts and climbed up onto the bed with Regina and asked, "It won't be much longer, babe. Mom said you met that midwife woman today. What did you think?"

Regina pouted at the mention of the annoyingly over the top woman from that afternoon. "I think she was handsy and although I don't approve of Whale's predisposition to the undead, I do trust his scientific abilities."

"What happened to,_ 'I don't want that man near my vagina'_?"

Regina lifted her chin and stated, "I'm a pregnant woman, Emma Mills, I'm allowed to change my mind." She saw a lost look in her wife's eyes and asked, "Are you alright, Emma?"

Emma snaps back from the darker thoughts from a time when she wasn't Emma Mills and answered, "Yeah, I'm just tired." She remembered where the 'I'm tired' excuse led her with her son moments before and didn't feel the need to add to her wife's stress by telling her she's been dreaming of the woman being with someone else. As inconceivably nightmarish as it was, it wasn't worth hurt feelings or the argument it could potentially turn into so she added, "I just don't feel like I know what I'm doing as the sheriff or savior or whatever. I'm at a loss, and I don't know what to do. Rumple's gone, and I have no idea where to even begin looking for him. Belle has been calling; she tried a locator spell on their teacup, but it didn't work, and I don't know if he is dead or what." She took a deep breath then shook her head and said, "Then there are these monkeys or whatever, and I can't even rule out them being bigfoot, because, you know, maybe?"

The brunette held out her arms for her to cuddle up to her on the bed, and Emma continued, "My dad got attacked, and someone stole his sword, and I have no idea why. It was broken. Why would anyone want that?"

Regina stroked her back and took a deep breath and asked, "What if they are connected? The monkeys or whatever they are and the attack on your father?"

Emma shrugged her shoulders not understanding the point, so Regina clarified, "If they are flying monkeys then that suggests perhaps Oz is at play and dare I say the wicked witch? Well, your father's sword holds power. Its symbol holds power and that power can be used in a wide variety of spells."

"Great."

"Before you get all broody sheriff on me, ask your mother to post a decree for anyone in town who sees one of these creatures to take a photo of it. At least then you'll be a step closer to knowing what they are. Everyone in town has a camera on their cell phone. Get the masses to do the leg work for you." She kissed the contemplating blonde's head and added, "As for Rumple, he is most likely hatching some diabolical plan he's had in the works for decades. He isn't honest with his Stepford wife and has probably masked his whereabouts from spells because he is up to no good. Just keep your eye out for anything weird because whatever he's doing, will not be conducive to a peaceful life here in Storybrooke."

Emma silently looked up at her wife and marveled at the woman for a moment before Regina asked, "What?"

"I am the smartest person in all of the realms to have bagged you, Madam Mayor."

"Do you have a deathwish?"

Emma chuckled and said, "No, but I am damn lucky to have you." She leaned in and landed a quick peck on Regina's cheek then asked, "How are you feeling? Because seriously, all the flying monkeys in the world take a back seat to you and our family."

Regina considered for a moment telling her wife of the unsettling dreams she's been having, but figured they were a manifestation of her personal fears and didn't want to burden Emma with additional worry and said, "I'm alright, darling." She rolled her eyes when Emma looked skeptical and admitted, "I may be a little more apprehensive about the birth process than I'm letting on, but it'll be okay. Whale assured me today that they had plenty of drugs on hand for the big day."

"I mean it, Regina."

"As do I, dear." She brushed aside Emma's straw-colored hair and gave the reason she was given for today's episode, "The memory loss was triggered by my anxiety. The brain is an amazingly complicated organ, Sheriff."

"Okay, but you can talk to me about this stuff, Regina. You're not alone," Emma said with a worried scowl.

Regina drew upon an old regret and got angry and spat, "Unlike you were, is that what you mean? Your unfortunate incarceration doesn't negate my fear, Emma."

"Shut up!"

"You _do_ have a deathwish!"

Emma chuckled and quickly explained, "No, I mean you have me, and I know the fear you are feeling. We're in this together, babe."

Regina rested her hand on the swell of her abdomen and said, "You have so much on your plate as it is."

Emma scoffed and said, "What the town? Fuck those guys!"

"Be serious, Emma."

"I am," Emma insisted. "When you need me, you are always my top priority."

Regina shifted under the weight of Emma's declaration and said, "I'm unaccustomed to being someone's priority."

"Well, you're mine. Our family comes first, no matter what. I love you, Regina."

Regina considered it for a few moments and knew instinctively that the words the Savior spoke, she meant, however, it still felt wrong, and she worried that perhaps this perfect life she led with the Savior, her son and a child on the way was a dream, because it was far too perfect and she was undeserving of such devotion.


	10. Chapter 10

Emma woke up the next day, relieved she had finally gotten a good night's sleep unbothered by vivid nightmares. She got up and had a pleasant morning with her family before heading into work. She'd texted her mother to have her put out the word about taking photos of the monkeys and felt as though she were finally moving forward with figuring out their dilemma.

After she'd made several followup calls to victims' families that morning, she was surprised by an unexpected visitor. The tall ginger woman, dressed in modest clothes littered with floral designs, was silently standing at the doorway to her office.

Emma didn't know her and asked with an air of professionalism, "Can I help you?"

"I'm Zelena, your wife or mother may have told you of me?"

The recollection hit her, and she stood as she confirmed, "The midwife?"

"Of sorts, yes." The woman tentatively stepped closer and took the offered hand in greeting. "It's nice to meet you, Savior."

Emma smiled politely and corrected, "You can just call me Emma."

"Of course, I apologize, you're a bit of a celebrity."

"Yeah, that destiny crap is a bitch. What can I do for you?"

The woman circled her then sat down on the edge of her desk, even though there were two available chairs, which struck Emma as odd. She felt the hair on her neck stand on end and couldn't for the life of her comprehend why she was feeling off about this woman who'd helped bring her brother into the world.

"I just wanted to touch base with you, so you understand what it is that I do. Midwifing helps a woman, especially a first-time mother, be in tune with her body and makes the entire process easier." The ginger's careful blue eyes looked over the Savior's body as she spoke, making Emma increasingly uncomfortable.

"Alright, I get it, but Regina is the one who needs to be on board with your hippie granola birth method."

Zelena pouted out her lower lip and whined, "She's refusing to listen to reason. I was hoping you could persuade her."

Emma laughed and said, "You clearly don't know the Queen. No one _persuades_ her."

"You're her wife."

"So you _don't_ know her. Alright, well, I think she's more interested in traditional medicine, and honestly, there is nothing I can do to change her mind."

Blue eyes chilled when she said, "This is important for the birth of your child, Sheriff."

"The top three things on my wife's list of what is important is," she held up her hand to count off the items and said, "Epidurals, epidurals and um…" she pretended to think of more things then added, "oh yeah, epidurals." Emma chuckled and said, "If she could get one now, I'm fairly certain she would."

The redhead stood and started to pace. Her features morphed from serene to worried then she stopped and turned to face Emma and said, "After the birth is just as important as the main event. Our new mother will need as many hands as she can get."

"I appreciate what you're saying, and just because this is her first _birth_, doesn't mean this is her first _newborn_. We've got this."

Zelena moved toward her, and Emma felt the predatory vibes more pronounced as the woman stalked closer. She lifted a pale, freckled hand and placed it on Emma's chest and cooed, "Your heart is in the right place Savior, but I understand this is _your_ first newborn. Your life is about to get turned upside down."

Emma looked down at where the intrusive palm was placed over the top of her breast and took a step back from the woman who clearly didn't have personal boundaries. The alarm she felt earlier got more intense, and she felt a sickening feeling in her gut. There was a falseness to the redhead that she couldn't quite place, and her defensive mechanisms threw her protective walls up, and she said bluntly, "Look, I see that you're not taking a polite no for an answer, so I'm just going to be clear with you. We're not interested in your services. Thank you, but no thank you."

Blue eyes chilled in the face of rejection, and she spat, "I suppose I can get her a different way, but there is something you _can_ help me with today, dear." She stepped closer to the confused blonde and said, "I require my sister's true love, and it resides in your heart, so if you don't mind…" Before Emma could react, a cold hand buried itself into her chest and wrapped around her heart.

Surprise crossed the taller woman's features when she tried to pull the organ out of the Savior. Once, twice, three strong pulls before a pulse of true love rang out of the blonde throwing the witch across the room into the office furniture of the pit.

Emma gasped for air and watched in horror as the older woman slowly got to her feet. Rage filled, watery red eyes burned when she spat, "If I can't take her love from _you_, I will rip her child to shreds!"

"That's _my_ child, you witch!" Emma drew her service pistol from her hip, and before she could get a bead, the redhead disappeared in a cloud of green smoke. Three clean shots buried into the far wall, chipping the brick and Emma exclaimed, "Seriously?" She reholsters her gun and pulled out her cell phone as she made her way toward the squad car.

"Mom! Where the fuck did you get that midwife?" She slammed the car door and turned the ignition over and blindly backed out onto Main street. She squealed the tires as she headed for home and said, "Because that bitch just tried to rip my heart out!"

Mary Margaret's voice seemed confused when she replied, "What did she do, sweetheart?"

"Actually physically tried to rip my fucking heart out!" Emma exclaimed then remembered part of what the woman had said and asked, "Does Regina have a sister?"

"Zelena helped us with Neal. We met her at a town meeting almost six months ago."

"_Could_ she be Regina's sister?"

"No, Regina is an only child." Snow scoffed, "Cora was not the mothering type, she only had Regina to fit her into the crown as part of her larger power play."

"Well, that bitch thinks she is, and between her green god damned magic and our flying monkey infestation, I'm assuming she's the wicked fucking witch!" Emma slammed her fist against the steering wheel of the car and exclaimed, "God damn it!"

She raced home to find Regina baking in the disaster that used to be their kitchen. Every conceivable inch of counter space was taken up by bowls, cookie sheets, and flattened out strips of dough. The entire kitchen had a thin layer of white flour across it, including the smudge across the smiling brunette, herself. Regina was positively glowing as she welcomed the Sheriff home with a bright, "Hi baby! You're home early!"

"Yeah-" Emma looked at the luscious dark curls of her wife's natural hair, the tinge of rose to her cheeks and the clarity in her eyes and thought that this was the most relaxed she'd seen her wife in months. Preparing for their child, making the house ready, making all of the doctor appointments on time and working all of it around being the Mayor of their town, had haggard the Queen, but today the woman looked positively radiant. She considered the incident that occurred that day and figured the witch had failed in her attempt and she didn't exactly know anything more about her investigation than she had that morning, so she decided not to burden her wife's beautiful peace, and kept the incident to herself.

_At least for now._

"Is everything alright, babe?" Emma leaned in and kissed the offered cheek then circled around Regina and rested her chin on her shoulder.

"You keep asking me that," Regina sing-songed as she continued pressing the flattened dough into the muffin tin in front of her.

"Did you pass a law that prevents me from checking in on my girls well being?"

Regina chuckled at the lame joke and quipped, "Not yet."

"You're in a good mood," Emma continued to pry.

"I am!" Regina gushed, "I had the most wonderful day today!"

"Oh, really?" Emma asked and pecked the brunette's cheek again before looking around at the half made mini pies, turnovers, and crumbles that were strewn across the countertops. "What happened that made it so great?"

"I baked!"

Emma chuckled at her wife's exuberance and said, "I can see that!"

"No, I mean, I _baked_! All-day!" Regina said with excitement. "I made apple pie, and applesauce and apple crumb cake and apple-"

"Everything. Apple _everything_. I get it. Duckie has your love of the forbidden fruit?"

"I love being in the kitchen!" Regina exclaimed.

Emma smirked and looked down at the woman's bare feet and said, "You look super sexy in the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant."

The Mayor whirled around and said with a wide grin, "I do?"

"I may be biased," Emma licked the corner of her mouth and smiled before continuing, "because I think you always look super sexy, but the domesticated Queen is a damn fine look on you, your Majesty."

Regina licked her lips as she used her weight to pin Emma between her baby bump and the counter behind her and said in a husky voice, "Flattery will get you everywhere with me, Sheriff."

"Well, dessert will get _you_ everywhere with _me_!"

A smile spread across dark features when Regina asked, "Am I not sweet enough for you, Sheriff?"

Emma bit into her wife's neck and groaned, "Your forbidden fruit is best sugar-free, your Majesty."

The front door opened then slammed, shaking the house, before angry footsteps stomped up the stairs. The boy's bedroom door aggressively closed, and Regina pulled back from Emma, nibbling up her jawline, and said, "Your teenager is home."

"Oh, he's _mine_ now that he's a teenager?"

"Only when he's angsty."

"You really are the Evil Queen, aren't you, babe?"

"Perhaps," Regina said with a devilish grin, returning to her unfinished baked goods.

"Like perhaps you'll wear your queenie getups for me?"

Regina turned with a knowing grin then motioned to her midsection and said, "Perhaps once I lose my planetary status."

Emma smiled wide, and as she was walking toward the stairs, she called over her shoulder, "I'm taking that as a yes!"

As she passed the front door, she locked the deadbolt then took the steps two at a time toward her son's bedroom. She slowed her pace, remembering he was thirteen now and knocked.

The pouting voice of her son yelled through the wooden door, "Go away!"

"So, what you're saying is you don't want to talk about it?"

"NO!"

"Are you sure? I'm a great-" Loud heavy guitar music blasted the Savior, and she finished her thought to herself, "listener."

"Okay!" Emma shouted through the door, figuring the boy couldn't hear her. "If you change your mind, Mom made apple pie!"

The music switched off, and Emma leaned against the door jam and waited for her son to come out. When he opened the door, he said gruffly, "I don't want to talk about it."

Emma lifted her hands in defense and said, "I'm simply offering up your mother's pie. Talking is not required." She followed him down the stairs and asked as she gestured to his long sleeve shirt, "Did you wear that to school?"

"No," Henry answered cautiously.

"Are you cold?"

"Um, yeah," he answered quickly, then trotted down the stairs toward the kitchen.

Emma knew this was a lie, but knew her child well enough to see the blatant avoidance within the untruth and let it go. She trusted that Henry would talk to her about whatever was going on in his own time, so she gave a small shrug and followed him towards the delectable apple cinnamon heaven that was billowing up from the kitchen.


	11. Chapter 11

Regina awoke from another vivid dream where she was married to the Savior and was having her child. It was strange to have such specific elements bleed across several dreams, and she worried that perhaps she was manifesting these dreams as a way to tell herself she wasn't content with her current situation.

_What else could it be?_

The fact that they were so vivid alarmed her, even though they faded as she woke up when she started her day; certain elements lingered. A longing for the dream child was something she hadn't been able to shake. She couldn't have children; she'd made sure of it. The decision was a move to thwart her mother's manipulation and was, at the time, her only choice. Or at least that's what it felt like. The hurt look on her boyfriend's face when he found out had irritated her, and perhaps it was because deep down, she wanted more children. They'd never discussed it, and had he not been listening in on a private conversation between Henry and herself, she wouldn't have been as angry at his pain.

_Or perhaps she would have._

It seemed that she'd been short-tempered with him lately and she wasn't entirely sure why. He was her soulmate, after all. He loved her. However, recently, she hadn't found the charming things he did as charming as she used to. It felt forced. It felt off, and she was uncertain as to why all of a sudden it felt that way. He was her soulmate, but not her true love.

_Did that really make a difference? He still loved her._

In this dreamed manifestation, Emma, her best friend, was cast in the role of loving, supporting partner and they were happy and in love. In a profound way, the blonde had always supported her in real life. In the dream, she was Regina's truest love. A true love that broke the curse she cast on herself so many years ago and they were able to produce a child. _A daughter._

Perhaps this was some deep-seated disappointment over Robin already having his true love, and _she_ wasn't it. Or maybe she was angry at herself for not seizing her moment at the tavern when she had the chance. Either way, the anger she felt toward him was unjustified.

During her musings, she remembered she had a date with her darker self that day, and she rolled her eyes, knowing nothing good would come from allowing that woman into their lives. The Evil Queen was all of the worst parts of her mother and none of the empathy of her father, and that was something no one seemed to truly understand. Of course, Henry knew the child-friendly stories of Cora Mills, but there were things about her mother she never talked about to anyone.

_Not even Emma._

She wanted to bar their son from seeing her but knew the boy well enough to know he wouldn't stay away. He had some romanticized idea of who she used to be and sometimes being a good parent is allowing him to make his own mistakes and learn lessons the hard way. She was going with him so the lessons he learned didn't cause him irreparable harm and she was bringing Emma to serve as referee.

* * *

Emma and Henry made it to the Mayor's vault before Regina arrived, and Emma hopped up on a nearby headstone and said, "I never liked this place."

The Evil Queen silently stalked from the shadows of the mausoleum, her face twisted into a scowl when she saw Henry had brought the wrong mother with him. "Em-ma," she growled, drawing the blonde's attention.

Emma's surprise was masked over quickly in the face of the Queen's disdain, and she quipped, "Queenie."

The nickname had the desired effect, and the Queen barked, "Insolence!"

Emma smiled in victory and said, "Everyone has a talent."

"Mom, can you _please_ not antagonize her?"

Emma could see jaw muscles clench as the darker version of her friend held back her disgust, and she realized the woman was making an effort. She looked to her son and apologized.

The Queen raised an eyebrow and looked down on the blonde and asked, "I'm surprised you came out here alone, Savior. I would have thought you'd bring your pet pirate. How is the dear captain anyway? We haven't had a chance to catch up."

The seductive smile that crossed the darker woman rubbed Emma the wrong way, caught off guard she admitted, "Regina is running behind, but she'll be here any minute."

"Oh, my lesser half _is_ coming? _Splendid_!"

The Queen's delight was palpable, and Emma's fur rose up as she got in the darker woman's face and spat, "You try and lay a hand on her, and I promise you, you'll regret it!"

The Queen smirked when she saw Regina walking up to the group from behind Emma and Henry, and caressed the Sheriff's cheek and cooed, "Woo, the fire you have for your Mayor is fierce! Don't forget, you can't _hurt_ me, Savior."

Emma got closer to the Queen and said, "Try me. You have no idea what I'm capable of."

The Mayor saw her evil counterpart toying with a bristled Savior and quickened her steps toward the group.

"Get your hands off of her," the Mayor demanded and pulled a fireball into the palm of her hand with a clear threat.

The Queen extinguished the flame with a sweeping gesture and immobilized both Emma and Henry where they stood and said, "You're late."

Regina saw the unnatural stillness of Henry and his mother and spat, "I _knew_ we couldn't trust you!" She rushed the Queen only to be reminded that any damage she did was inflicted upon herself as well, so instead of bodily harm, Regina pushed the Queen and demanded, "Unfreeze them!"

"That's hardly sporting, dear. Mother taught us better."

"Yeah well, Mother was wrong about so much. Why did you lure us here?"

"I wanted to have a little chat with you and knew the only way you'd come would be if the boy asked you to."

"So you used him," Regina closed her eyes and shook her head when she added, "He thinks you're redeemable."

"We both know that's not possible," the Queen replied as she stepped around the Mayor looking her up and down. "The similarities are uncanny, I do have to say mirrors just don't do us justice, dear, we are quite beautiful. Far too beautiful for that Keebler elf you're dating."

Regina turned toward her darker self, feeling the black eyes on her body. "What is it that you want?"

"When was the last time you were satisfied, Regina?"

The Mayor looked over at the frozen Savior and remembered the dream she had of the woman pleasuring her early in the morning. How it felt, even as a dream, it was a real connection she had extreme difficulty pushing aside once awake. "I'm not going to dignify that with an answer."

The Queen sauntered over to the Savior and moved her blonde hair around her shoulder, exposing the woman's chest and arms and quipped, "I mean _outside_ of your vivid fantasy life."

"You know nothing of my fantasies."

"You forget that I'm a part of you. I am you, Regina."

"All the worst parts of me. I haven't forgotten."

The Queen dragged her finger down Emma's pale arm and asked, "Why are you with him when your desire lays elsewhere?"

Regina shook her head in silent denial but couldn't bring herself to give it voice.

The reluctance to speak truth enraged the Queen, and she barked, "You can't lie to me!"

Regina turned from the stillness of the Savior and in a low tone, said, "Where my desire lies is otherwise occupied."

"When has that stopped us?"

"Is this why you dragged us down here? To discuss my personal mating habits?"

"No," the Queen drawled and circled the Mayor drawing her attention before asking, "Does all this seem as real to you as it does to me?"

The exasperated Mayor demanded, "What are you talking about?"

Warm fingertips danced along the Mayor's collarbone before the Queen asked, "What on earth would possess you to rip me out of you?"

Regina rolled her eyes and snarked, "I don't know maybe I was tired of your mind games?"

"Oh, I never played mind games with you, darling. I'm being genuine."

Regina pushed off the gentle caresses and scoffed, "Genuine?"

"As genuine as I can be," the Queen shrugged and rolled her eyes before admitting, "Without you, it's difficult to muster up sincerity. My point is..."

"Oh, you do have one then?"

"My point _is_," the Queen hissed, "All of this seems surreal, does it not? How did we get here?"

Regina thought about the question and hated to admit it, but she agreed with the witch's assessment. Things seemed strange. The world seemed off and not what she imagined her life to be. How did she get to a place in her life where she was supposedly in love with the thief?

Her silent contemplation was cut short when the Queen spat, "How could you rip me from you so callously? You barely debated the decision!"

"Robin said," Regina trailed off knowing the excuse would mean nothing to the Queen and if she was honest the words were hollow to her as well. Even before her dark counterpart came back into town, if she was being honest with herself, she silently regretted the decision to split from her dark side. No matter the internal struggle she had, she felt lost without her. Incomplete. She shook her head, and with a quick side glance toward Emma, she admitted, "I don't know."

The Queen stepped closer, seeing the vulnerability in her lesser self and asked, "How could you trust _him_ over _her_?"

"I don't know! I thought he was right."

"He wasn't."

"I know that." She shook her head and wiped the tears from her cheeks and stated firmly, "There's nothing I can do about it now, except live with the consequences."

The Queen cupped Regina's chin and forced her to look up and asked, "You miss me, don't you, Regina?"

"Not always."

"You miss me taking control and getting things accomplished."

Regina rolled her eyes and said, "Depends on the things. You have zero self-control and even less accountability."

"Would you believe me if I told you I missed you?"

"No," Regina said, but her voice was uncertain.

"I do." The Queen leaned in, and blood-red lips met plum. Seeing surprise had caught the Mayor off guard, the Queen pressed further by sliding her tongue into Regina's mouth.

The tender kiss felt too good to stop, and Regina allowed the soft exploration. Warm hands wrapped around her exactly the way she preferred to be held and she let go of her reservations about kissing herself and fell into the moment.

The Queen felt her counterpart release her apprehension and with the flick of a wrist unfroze the Savior then grabbed Regina's ass firmly causing her to quietly moan into the kiss.

Emma's startled features were comical as jealousy bubbled up from deep within her. She turned to Henry, but he was frozen in place then looked back at the black knowing eyes of the Queen as she kissed and groped her friend. Uncertain as to what else to do, Emma covered Henry's lifeless eyes.

The Queen broke the heated embrace and drawled, "He can't see us. He's under an immobilization spell."

Emma blushed and answered, "Still…"

The blonde's voice startled the Mayor, and she promptly pushed the giggling Queen away from her and exclaimed, "You're such a dick!"

With her fun over, the Queen shrugged with a smirk and unbound Henry.

"Come on, kid, we're leaving," Emma said as she pushed him away from the scene she just witnessed. It was incredibly hot, and she felt torn because she shouldn't think it was hot, but she was also extremely jealous and had no earthly right to be. Unlike in her dreams, Regina wasn't _hers_.

The teenager exclaimed, "What? We just got here!"

"Don't argue with your mother," Regina said as she trailed behind the seemingly angry blonde.

"Have a pleasant evening!" The Queen called after them with amused laughter. "Regina! This is wrong, and you know it!

"Mom, why are we leaving?" Henry asked as they approached their vehicles.

"Henry, get in the car," Emma said in her no argument tone and once the boy begrudgingly complied, she whirled around on her friend and demanded, "What the hell was that? I thought we were here so she could see Henry!"

Regina rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest and admitted, "It was a ruse to get me down here."

Emma could feel nothing but red hot jealousy at the memories of soft hands traveling over Regina's body in ways she's only ever imagined. The arousal and jealousy turned to anger, and she spat, "I don't appreciate you using our son like that!"

Confusion struck Regina's features, and she defended, "_I_ didn't use Henry!"

"No, just a version of you did!"

Regina knew Emma had a right to be angry. She was disappointed that she'd fallen for the Queen's antics herself, so she apologized, "I'm sorry!"

Emma felt the floodgates open and was unable to stop herself as she accused, "You _kissed_ her, Regina!"

"_She_ kissed _me_!"

"You _let_ her!"

Regina could see the betrayal in green eyes and was confused by Emma's extreme reaction, so she spat, "Don't you have a _pirate_ to attend to?"

Henry unrolled the bug's window and asked, "I don't understand why we're leaving. Can't we stay?"

Both women spun around and shouted in unison, "No!"


	12. Chapter 12

Regina was ripped from her sleep by a sharp stabbing in her lower back and cried out into the darkness. The sounds roused the Savior, and she turned on a light, asking as she rubbed her eye, "What's wrong, babe?"

Regina began breathing the way she learned during Lamaze and said through panting breaths, "Pain. In my back. Emma, it hurts!"

"Okay, okay baby." Emma jumped up out of bed and helped her turn onto her side, relieving the pressure. "Has your mucus plug come out yet?"

"Gross, Emma, no!" Regina shook her head in disgust.

"Okay, then this isn't labor," Emma replied relieved.

Regina sighed as the pain subsided and said, "I'm sorry for startling you. Turning feels better, thank you, darling." She rubbed her belly as she watched Emma get back into bed and sighed, "Your daughter needs to consider coming out now. I'm tired of being the beluga whale in this play." She looked up at the Savior and added, "Maybe we should consider inducing."

"Baby, I'm sorry you're feeling shitty, but it's better for her to come out when she's ready. The meds they use are heavy-duty and unless she's in trouble, or you are, I think we should wait for her to decide when she's good and ready."

"I can already tell she has your stubbornness."

Emma chuckled when she replied, "Oh, because _you're_ not _at all_ stubborn?"

"I'm pretty sure you are far more stubborn than I, Sheriff Mills."

"I can think of ten people right now who would disagree with you, Madam Mayor."

Dark eyes narrowed, "Who?"

Emma took a deep breath to answer, and Regina cut her off by saying, "The Dwarves don't count. They've always been biased!"

"Fine," she said and took a deep breath before answering, "Snow, David, Red, Granny, Katherine, Archie, Whale, Gold..." Emma thought for a moment and had difficulty naming anyone other than the dwarves, which had been on the original ten when she spouted off.

"That's only eight," the Queen informed.

"Henry, and _me_," Emma said with a smirk of self-satisfaction.

"Henry would _never_, and you seemingly _still_ have a deathwish!"

"Okay maybe, but you tied my hands by taking away the dwarves!"

Regina humphed and rolled her eyes and Emma continued, conceding, "Okay maybe I'm more stubborn, but honestly I don't care what she gets from me, I just want her. I want her, and I want you."

Regina could see the upset in her wife's watery eyes and said in a soothing tone, "You have me, darling. Always and forever, remember?" She kissed the blonde on her forehead and said, "I'm sorry for waking you up."

"It's okay, I was having a really um... strange dream anyway."

"Strange? Or bad?"

"A little of both."

"I'm sorry, darling." Regina wrapped her arm around the blonde and pulled her close as if she could physically protect the woman from whatever nightmare she'd had.

"It's okay, it's been happening a lot lately. Mom said I'm just anxious about Duckie's arrival."

Regina looked up at the Savior and suggested, "Maybe if you tell me about it, it will help."

Emma remembered her raging jealousy and undeniable desire as she watched her wife make out with an evil form of herself and said, "It's silly."

"Not if it's been bothering you, darling."

Emma rolled her eyes and began to explain what has been plaguing her for over a week, "I've been dreaming that we're not married and you're not pregnant, and things are really kind of terrible."

"You dream of us not being married?" Regina demanded, forgetting for a moment that she has had similar dreams herself.

"It's not like I'm happy about it, Regina. It's a nightmare! All during the dream I miss you and want you, but you're with some douche canoe. A guy!" Emma shook her head as an entirely different jealous feeling rose up within her.

"_What?_"

"Yeah. Robin Hood no less. Your knight in shining tree bark. I mean, how cliche can you get?"

Regina felt a sinking feeling and deadpanned, "What?!"

"I know it's just my insecurity about being your true love or whatever, but he's a real tool and has a kid that you adore, and you're like really into him and-"

Regina bolted up and exclaimed, "Emma! That's _my_ dream!"

Emma looked up at the Queen with confusion and demanded, "What? You want to be with some burly douche who looks like he's constipated all the time?"

"No! I don't _want_ that! I've been dreaming about that lately, amongst other things!"

Shock caused Emma to pinch up her nose when she asked, "What _other_ things?"

Regina felt her cheeks grow red with embarrassment when she admitted, "I've been dreaming that you're with some drunken smelly one-handed pirate!"

"Oh my god, Regina! That's the other part of _my_ dream! Are we having the _same_ dream?"

Regina put a shaky protective hand over their daughter and asked, "How is that possible?"

"Wait," Emma said and considered for a moment before asking, "Do you have a sister?"

"What? No!"

"Okay, are you sure? Because that witch may be behind this and she said you're her sister."

"What witch?"

"The midwife bitch." Emma shook her head remembering the angry, hateful glare the woman had given her the afternoon she tried to take her heart and said, "I think she's the wicked witch from the wizard of oz."

Regina shook her head in disbelief and said, "My father never would have dared to cheat on my mother, and my mother, to my recollection, never bedded a munchkin!"

"Okay well, she was after my heart because she said her sister's love resided there and got super pissed when she couldn't take it."

"Someone tried to rip your heart out, and this is the first I hear about this?!"

Emma could see the danger in the older woman's eyes and realized her mistake far, far too late and defended, "I didn't want to stress you out!"

"I'm pregnant not an-"

"Invalid, I know! You were so happy!" Emma pouted and rubbed her palm against the brunette's baby bump and added, "I couldn't ruin that with another catastrophe."

"This is wholly unacceptable, Emma Mills! You don't get to decide what I know!"

"Okay! I'm sorry! I made a mistake."

Regina sat up and turned her back on her apologetic wife and began using her Lamaze breathing to calm down. She was angry and afraid, and neither of those emotions has ever resulted in good decisions from her in the past.

"Baby, please," Emma rounded the bed and knelt before her, taking one of her hands and kissed the back of it and apologized again.

Regina ripped her hand away and spat, "Lamaze was a complete waste of time! Your mother is an idiot of epic proportions!"

"I know, babe," Emma agreed just pleased that the Queen's anger was focused somewhere other than her. She placed her hands on either side of the Queen's thighs and reassured, "We'll figure this out."

Regina rubbed her swollen belly and promised, "As soon as Duckie is safe, I'm going to rip that witches heart out! I don't care who she thinks she is to me! These nightmares have been _awful_!"

Emma smirked and kissed the Queen's hand and said, "I know. When I'm there, it feels so real." She dragged her hands up to caress the outside of Regina's abdomen and said, "I feel like this is the dream."

"Emma!" Regina shrinks back, curling a protective arm around their child when she accused, "This doesn't seem real to you?"

"Can I be honest without you going nuclear?"

"Maybe," Regina answered slowly.

"I want this to be real, I really do, but in the back of my mind, I know this is literally my every wish and desire come true. You, Henry, Duckie, my loving, supportive parents, if I could have the dream life, this would be it."

Regina relaxed as she felt her heart swell. Touched by the sentiment that a life with her was her true love's dream come true, she lifted the Savior's chin and leaned in and kissed her. "This is everything I want, too, darling."

"Are you sure you don't want a life where you have your soulmate and are a hero and can make out with yourself whenever you want?"

Regina pulled her eyebrows down in confusion and demanded, "Are you _jealous_?"

"No!" Emma rolled her eyes and amended, "_Maybe_."

"Don't be ridiculous," the brunette scoffed.

"I'm not!" Emma defended.

"Is that why you got all pissy?"

"No, I got pissy because she was grabbing my wife's ass!" Emma growled as she fisted Regina's nightshirt, "Hot or not, _you're mine_."

Regina chuckled as she got back into bed and said, "Any scenario where I'm not yours, is, of course, the nightmare."

"Damn straight," Emma said and curled up around the brunette. "I'm gonna savior the shit out of that green-skinned bitch."

Regina hummed in contentment and said, "Of course you will, my knight."


	13. Chapter 13

Henry Mills woke up before his adoptive mother and grabbed the backpack he stowed in the closet the night before and snuck out of the house. He got on his bike and headed out toward his mother's mausoleum. He was angry that their visit had been cut short with no discernible reason. He knew he'd missed something, but he didn't know what and neither of his mother's would tell him so he decided to go to the one mother who would.

The Queen had been snarky with his birth mother, but by her own admission, Emma had been a surprise. He hadn't been aware the blonde would be bringing him out to the meeting place and didn't have time to warn his darker mother in time once he found out. However, the Queen could have been far worse, judging by the stories he'd heard around Storybrooke and he guessed that she was on her best behavior, for him.

She wanted him in her life, he could tell, and all she needed was some understanding. He was sure she would live to her full potential, the same way the good side of Regina had.

As he was riding down Main Street, he came upon Mr. Gold's shop and noticed Belle was arguing with a tall brunette man dressed in black. He didn't recognize the man right away until he got closer and saw that he was the hooded man depicted in his drawing.

Belle seemed to know him, but she was visibly upset, pleading with him to calm down. Henry slowed his bike to a stop, figuring he was a hero, after all, right? He couldn't very well not intervene when Belle could potentially need his help. His confidence wavered when he remembered the author's pen had predicted the final battle between good and evil and this man was depicted as the evil against his hero mothers, the Charmings, and of course, himself.

However, Belle seemed to be upset, and he couldn't leave her to someone he knew to be evil, even if she did seem familiar with him, so he called across the street, "Belle? Is everything okay?"

The brunette wiped the tears from her eyes and gave a wide fake smile as she waved to him. "Everything is alright, Henry. Go on and play," she goaded as she quickly ushered the brooding brunette into Gold's shop.

_Go and play?_ Henry thought it was an odd thing for her to say, given his age, but decided that she was upset and probably wasn't thinking. The wooden door closed behind her as she entered the pawnshop, and the sign in the window was flipped from Open to Closed, and she was gone.

Henry hesitated for a moment before continuing on toward the cemetery, hoping that Belle knew what she was doing. If Belle and Mr. Gold knew the hooded man, perhaps there was something that he could figure out in order to help his hero mothers win this fight.

He knew Emma was afraid, but he wasn't sure as to why. His blonde mother wasn't scared of anything, so her fear, made him concerned.

After arriving at the cemetery, and checking the vault for the Queen, he pulled out his cell phone and texted her.

**Henry: Mom. I'm at the vault. Alone. I want to talk to you.**

Within a few moments, dark purple smoke swirled and dissipated, leaving the Queen standing in front of him in all of her regal glory. She looked around wryly then asked, "Regina doesn't know you're here, does she?"

He shook his head no and said, "Neither does Emma."

She stood taller and sniffed, looking down her nose at him and said, "I'm not overly fond of you lying to my lesser half, Henry. I taught you better than that."

"I didn't _lie_ to her, I just didn't _tell_ her."

"Do not try and split hairs with _me_, young man!"

"I wanted to see you, but they were being weird and wouldn't give me a good enough reason as to why I couldn't."

Regina lifted an impressed eyebrow and said, "Stop slouching. It's unbecoming of a prince." She looked down at her nails and added, "I would imagine they were unimpressed with me."

"They got into a fight. They haven't fought like that in years."

"You don't like it when they fight," Regina said as if it just occurred to her. She looked over his worried features and said, "Well I'm sorry I caused that for you. That was not my intent. I do so love needling the witless duo, but not at your expense, my Prince."

"You do _love_ me, don't you?"

She lifted an eyebrow and answered, "I do."

He looked over her dramatically dark features that were eerily similar to his mother, but still different. Everything was tighter, bolder, brasher, yet, she was his mother. "You _are_ _her_, aren't you? My mom?" He took a step closer to her and asked, "Like you remember being my mom, don't you?"

Her tight look did not soften, but she answered, "I do, and I am."

"And you love me the same as she does?"

She considered the question and answered honestly, "Not the same, I don't believe. I find it difficult to hold onto affection, but I remember loving you the way she does."

"Enough to help us?"

The Queen lifted a skeptical eyebrow but said nothing, simply waiting for the boy to lay out his request.

He told her about the final battle, and the hooded man and his apparent relationship with Belle and possibly Rumplestiltskin. He laid out everything he knew about what was going on and what was to come and his ideas on how to stop it then said, "I overheard mom talking to Emma on the phone, and I think she thinks Emma is going to die, or at least lose."

Shine in the Queen's eyes gave away her glee before a wide smile slowly crawled across her face, and she whispered, "Excellent!"

"Mom!" Henry scolded, "She's my mom too!"

Realizing her mistake, she schooled her face and apologized, "Bad habits die hard, Henry."

"I need _you_. Regina wouldn't be able to pull this off, and they would never ask you for help. If you really love me or at least remember that you loved me, you'll help me."

The Queen side-eyed the brunette boy and started to pace as she considered how she could get the information she required. Coming up with a barebones plan that could possibly work, she turned to the boy and agreed to help him.

* * *

With his success at the vault, Henry returned home to hear his mothers seemingly arguing in the kitchen. He closed the door gently as to not disturb them with his presence and headed toward the stairs to sneak back to his room when he overheard part of their conversation.

"I am definitely awake, Emma!"

"You said that in the dream!"

"_It_ was a _dream_!"

"Why do you keep saying that? Our daughter is _not_ a dream, Regina!"

"I _can't have_ children!"

Henry realized he was intruding and backed away from the hall, his backpack catching the decorative table, causing a loud noise.

The women rushed out of the kitchen and caught him with an apologetic look on his face. Regina turned to Emma and said, "Look! Our son! Who is very much here, is _real_!"

"Duckie is just as real!" His blonde mother exclaimed. He looked at them in astonishment as the term triggered a memory, and he asked, "Duckie is my baby sister?"

Regina turned to him and shook her head and said, "No. It was a dream Miss Swan had."

Emma tossed her hands in the air and exclaimed, "_And_ you!"

Henry looked between his mothers and added, "And _me_."

This information snapped his brunette mother to attention, and his blonde mother spiraled out into victorious, "I told you so's."

"What do you mean _you_ had the dream too?"

"All I remember is you're huge, and you two are married, and kids beat me up at school every day."

Emma's face crumpled in worry, when she asked, "Wait, what? What _kids_?"

Henry shrugged it off and replied, "They don't really beat me up. It's just a dream. Like you two liking each other." He looked between his mothers and asked, "But you guys don't like each other because you're happy with Hook and Robin, right?"

Emma was the first to speak and said, "I'm not." She turned to Regina with hopeful eyes pleading, before she asked, "How about you? Are you happy here with _him_?"

Regina remembered what her darker self said about how all of this was strange and how none of this could be real. How at the word of her boyfriend, she'd ripped out part of who she was simply to make him happy. It didn't feel true to who she felt she was. She thought about the life she had here, the friendships she'd forged and how she was respected and relied upon for her merit. Everything she's worked so hard for versus the fuzzy memories of a dream she can't all the way remember. She covered her flat abdomen and recalled the affection she felt for Emma, and the connection carrying their child made between them and knew no matter which reality was real, in this one, she wasn't as happy, so she shook her head and replied, "No."

Emma closed her eyes and said, "So this world is definitely the dream."

Henry looked between his mom's and shook his head and said, "What? No! This isn't a dream, ma! Besides, we have bigger problems. I saw the hooded man arguing with Belle outside of the pawnshop."

Emma snapped to attention and demanded, "What? When?"

"I was passing by this morning and saw them. She looked really upset."

His brunette mother lifted an eyebrow and questioned, "You've been out of the house already today?"

Emma looked at the unimpressed Mayor and then back at her son and asked, "Where were you going?"

A deep blush crawled up Henry's face and Emma exclaimed, "Did you go see Violet?"

"What? No!" Henry denied, then thought better of it. Sneaking out to see his girlfriend would probably get him in less trouble than sneaking out to see the Queen, so he amended, "I mean, yeah. You caught me."

"Henry _Daniel_ Mills! I don't need your mother's special power to see that you are lying right to my face! Where _were_ you?"

Henry scrunched up his nose with a small half-smile and lied, "I don't know?"

Emma's eyebrows flew up, and she put her hands on her hips and demanded, "Spit it out. _Now_."

"I went to go see mom?"

"Have you lost your _damn_ mind?" Regina's use of profanity toward him was shocking, and he knew he was in serious trouble. "You're grounded. _For a month!_ No TV, no computer, no cell phone, no _girlfriend_!"

"What? Mom! You can't be serious!"

Emma folded her arms over her chest and agreed with the brunette, "Keep it up, and it will be two months."

"You always take her side! Even when you're fighting!" Henry yelled.

Regina's eyes batted closed a few times, and she found herself in the crypt of her vault. Emma had her arms folded across her chest the way she was just standing, and an eleven-year-old Henry stood on the other side of the room holding a vial in his little hand screaming at them.

Regina shouted in a panic, "Henry! Be careful with that!" Instantly she was back in her hall with the blonde and her son, both looking at her startled and worried.

"Regina? Are you okay?"

In her fear and confusion, she pushed off the comforting advances of the blonde and spat, "Must you treat me like an invalid in every scenario we live?"

Emma rolled her eyes then turned to Henry and said, "You're not to see her again without our permission. _Am I clear?_"

"Fine! She's going to help us! But yeah keep yelling at me like I'm still a little kid!"

Emma grabbed her jacket and said, "I'm the Savior. I'll confront Belle about the douche in the hood." She turned to Regina and said, "Get some rest, Madam Mayor. You _clearly_ need it."


	14. Chapter 14

Regina woke up, slightly disoriented but extremely pregnant. She turned to see that her wife was not in bed with her and remembered how angry the blonde had been in the dream they shared. She called into the silent manor, "Emma?" After a few moments, she turned to grab her cell phone, feeling the weight of her pregnancy as she shifted, she murmured to herself, "This is _definitely_ the real world."

She called her wife's number, but after one ring she was pushed through to voicemail. If the blonde was simply busy, she wouldn't have bothered looking at the device at all, and it would have rung several more times before she was dumped. She rolled her eyes as a text message appeared from her wife.

**Emma: I'm too busy at my fake job, trying to keep my fake family safe to talk right now.**

Regina sighed and texted her back.

**Regina: Alright, you're mad over a dream?**

Emma rang three seconds after she sent her text, and before Regina could get a word in edgewise, the blonde barked, "Oh, _now_ that's the dream?"

"Emma," Regina said with another sigh, not exactly wanting to argue over something so trivial.

"No, Regina, you _know_ it's some magical crap this witch has done that makes that nightmare feel real! She's trying to distract us, and I need you on my side so I can protect _our children_!"

Regina felt her daughter shift within her and swallowed hard and apologized. "You're right. This is the real one."

"Thank you," Emma sounded surprised that she'd given in so quickly and then asked, "Do you think you can help me figure out how to make the nightmares stop? I feel like I haven't slept in a week."

"Rumple has some books tucked away at the library I can look through."

"Ruby has a bunch of stuff printed out on Oz, I'm going through it now." Emma sighed, then said, "Fucking magic is always the problem!"

Regina felt dizzy for a moment, and a memory hit her, as real as the room around her. Henry was standing in her vault, tears streaming down his face screaming, "It's all magic's fault!"

"Regina?" The sound of her wife's voice pulled her from the scene, and she murmured, "What?"

"Did you hear me?"

"Uh, no."

"I said I'll meet you down at the library in a couple of hours. I'm going down to the school to find out which little twat is bullying Henry."

Regina shook off the concerning vision in favor of protecting her son and said, "Well if you'd listened to me and taken magic lessons, you wouldn't need to interrogate minors today."

"Hey, my interrogation tactics get results. All magic has ever done to me is cause problems."

Regina rolled her eyes and said, "Fine, I'll see you in an hour."

"Hey, Regina?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

The emotion those words filled her with the love she felt for the blonde and she returned the sentiment. "I love you too, darling. I'm sorry my dream-self doubted you."

* * *

Settling into a reading nook at the back of Storybrooke's library, Regina stuffed pillows around herself to get comfortable and began going through several old dusty books. She was getting nowhere fast, and she knew it. She tried to cross-reference the strength of Charming's hilt, her true love with her wife and their unborn child and got little in the way of spells that would cause the delusion she shared with Emma and their son and started to get frustrated.

She heard the bell of the library door and assumed it was Emma returning from putting the fear of the Savior into Henry's classmates and called out, "I'm back here, dear."

"Well, don't you look exceedingly uncomfortable?" The British accent startled her, and she looked up to see the redheaded midwife instead of Emma.

She felt fear for the life of her unborn daughter but schooled her features to portray the confidence she didn't feel. "What do you want, witch?"

"Awe is that any way to speak to your long lost sister?"

"Still with the sister act, are we?"

"We share a mother, so yes!"

Regina scoffed at the idea that Cora Mills would have a child out of wedlock and said, "What do you think that'll do? Throw me off? Do you think I'll show you mercy after you've attacked my family and my town?" Regina lazily blinked and added, "Clearly you have no idea who you're dealing with."

Anger flushed the pale features of the witch, and she spat, "It is YOU who has no idea!"

"Nor do I wish to," Regina said and returned to her reading before quipping, "Now why don't you be a wicked little witch and hop back on your broomstick and fly on out of here before you get hurt."

Regina looked up when the woman didn't say anything and saw in horror as pale skin slowly turned green. "Well, you _do_ have green skin. I'm sure you can get a salve for that down at The Dark Star Pharmacy in town."

"If you knew what I had planned, you wouldn't be so cavalier!"

"So you have more planned than disrupting our sleep patterns with a delusion. To be quite honest, it wasn't that believable."

"What are you going on about?"

Regina heard her phone buzz an incoming text, and she hoped it was from Emma telling her she was on her way. She hummed as she reached for the device when the witch spat, "I have Rumplestiltskin."

Dark eyes flicked up in her surprise, and she asked, "You managed to flip the Dark One away from the love of his bride?"

"No, but I used that foolish girl against him. It's his only weakness. Soon I will have the Dark One's dagger, and you will watch your precious world burn!"

"He's not the only one with a weakness." Emma's voice boomed from behind the witch, gun pulled aimed straight at her head. "Don't move a muscle!"

Henry darted around the scene and ran over to his adoptive mother, crashing into her with a protective hug.

Green features smirked in self-satisfaction, and Regina knew none of them were safe. She got up from her chair and pushed Henry behind her, and when she saw the smirk grow into a smile, she felt the world slow down as Zelena used magic to move behind the Sheriff, plunging her hand in her chest she squeezed the organ within, killing her before Regina could move an inch.

"No!" Henry cried from behind her, rushing out from safety to reach his blonde mother who had collapsed, lifeless onto the floor.

Regina felt the entire world shift, her magic bloomed inside of her, and she threw an energy pulse to knock the redhead back. She lifted her hands, shaking in rage and tree limbs grew out of the weathered books, grabbing the wicked witch holding her down. She stepped toward her and hissed, "I cursed an entire realm because I lost my puppy love, and you just killed the only woman who could have saved you from my wrath!"

Confidence started to replace the nervous look in cool blue eyes as the witch slowly began to break through Regina's spell, and the Queen realized the woman was stronger than she anticipated.

"Mom! Help her!" Her teary-eyed son cried over the body of her true love, and she knew she could do nothing to help her wife. The witch may not have been able to remove Emma's heart, but crushing it is still crushing it, and the blonde was dead.

"I can't Henry. Get up. We need to _go_."

"No! Mom! We can't _leave_ her!"

Zelena ripped another limb free and hissed, "Listen to your Mummy, little boy, because as soon as I get out of this, I'm going to tear your sister out of your remaining mother and make you watch!"

"Henry, NOW!"

With the image of losing a second mother that day burned into his imagination, he got up and ran toward his adoptive mother. She grabbed his hand and ran outside where Emma's bug was sitting and instructed him to get inside.

She pushed the driver's seat back and was grateful the blonde always left her keys in the ignition. Turning the car over, she squealed away from the library.

"Where are we going?"

"I don't know!" Time finally caught up to her as the lifeless look of Emma passed through her memory. _This couldn't be real. Emma couldn't be dead! She was the Savior! The witch had no idea what she was talking about when she mentioned the dreams, so this must be the dream. Emma isn't dead, she just woke up in the other reality._ "I don't know," she whispered to herself and wiped tears from her blurry eyes. She covered a hand over her unborn child and whispered, "I can't live this life _without_ her."

As Regina ground the bug into fourth gear, Henry put his hand over hers and suggested, "Maybe this isn't the real world, mom. Maybe the other place is. I know ma wanted this to be the real one, but you said so yourself, you can't be pregnant."

Regina erupted into sobs and veered the bug back over the solid yellow line and choked out, "No, she cured me! Her _love_," her voice cracked as she was flooded with emotion about the day's events and she swallowed down her fears. Breathing in a shuddering breath, she said, "What I can't be is pregnant without her! I choose the other world! I choose a life with Emma Swan _in_ it!"

Pongo raced across the road in front of them, and she slammed on the breaks and swerved to avoid hitting the spotted dog, coming to a rest facing a dirt road that was shadowed in overgrown trees and a sign that said, "Toll Bridge Out." There was a letter R written in white spray paint turning the word toll into the word troll, and she sat and looked at the sign, eyes burning from her tears.

"If," Henry started softly, "If we die in this world, we'll wake up in the other world and-"

"Emma will be alive?" Brown eyes looked to her son, filled with hope.

Henry squeezed her hand and said, "She has to be. This is just a dream."

She looked down at her large stomach and waited for a sign to tell her that the child was real, but the infant remained motionless and Regina once again, burst into tears.

"It's okay, mom."

"Emma wanted her so much." She looked at her son and added, "I wanted her so much, but-" She swallowed back the orange in her throat and whispered through her tears, "I want Emma _more_."

"Me too, mom."

She sighed loudly and wiped the tears from her face and turned over the stalled ignition and said, "To hell with it." She started down the pitted dirt road and quickly picked up speed as she raced for the broken-down bridge. As they reached the base of the bridge, she yelled, "I love you, Henry!"

"I love you, mom!"

The world went black as tires left the edge of broken pavement, and there was nothing. No sound. No pain. _Nothing._


	15. Chapter 15

Regina got up off of the floor of her kitchen, disoriented. She recalled the dream in all of its horrible vividness and called out, "Henry?!" She scrambled to her feet and cried, "Baby?! Where are you?!"

"Mom!" The boy's voice was a relief as he rushed down the stairs and crashed into her. She held him, grateful they'd made the right decision because if she was honest with herself, she hadn't been in her right mind, wracked with guilt and grief. She remembered the loss of Emma Swan acutely and felt her heart break in her chest as she whispered the blonde's name.

She let go of her son and rushed out of the front door and ran barefoot up the street toward the Savior's home. _The home she shared with someone else._ She felt the loss more profoundly, and her eyes started to tear up. Even if the woman were to be nothing more than her best friend, she loved her. She was in love with her. The feelings she felt from the fake world had been real for her, and she knew that now. She needed her, and that was all she could focus on.

As she ran up onto the blonde's lawn, shouting her name, the woman herself came out of the house and rushed to her, crashing into one another, they kissed. There wasn't the expected ring of true love during their embrace, but Regina was so pleased that Emma was alive; she would worry about that later.

"What happened?" Emma asked, breaking their kiss.

Henry ran up behind them and crashed into them and cried, "Mom! You're alive!"

"Wait, what?" Questioning green eyes looked up and saw the devastation in the darker woman and asked, "I died?"

"You don't remember?" Henry asked.

"No," Emma answered, then asked, "So what happened? I died, and you guys woke up here too?"

Regina pulled the blonde into a firm hug, masking the fresh tears streaming down her face, and Henry answered, "Not exactly." He put his hand on his adoptive mother's back as silent sobs start to shake her body, and he mourned the loss of his unborn sister right alongside his mother.

After a moment, Emma kissed the older woman on the side of the head and said, "Come on, babe, let's go inside."

* * *

After piecing together what they all could remember, Regina sat in numbed shock as the day's events ran through her mind. She'd been reckless with her son's life in the heat of her despair, and she felt the guilt that came with that rash decision. She laid her head down on the cool wood of Emma Swan's dining room table and took a deep settling breath.

The Savior was pacing, trying to put together who could be strong enough to create a fake parallel universe and wondered aloud at its purpose.

"The purpose was to make us think it was real," Emma said aloud. "But for just us three, why?"

Regina murmured into the cool table, "To hurt us. To force us to destroy our lives in favor of a fantasy. To show us things we will never have."

Emma stopped pacing and asked, "You think we can't have that?"

"I think we only had what we had because you were my true love and broke my self inflicted curse." Regina's hollow-sounding voice touched the Savior, and she moved behind her and rested a hand on Regina's back and said, "I know, babe."

Regina sat up, and red-rimmed eyes stared down the blonde when she said, "Then you must have noticed we did not share true loves kiss when I kissed you outside."

"I didn't notice, I was paying more attention to my upset wife."

"I am _not_ your wife, _Miss Swan_."

"I know," Emma said and knelt next to the upset Mayor, placing a reassuring hand on her thigh and continued, "But you could be."

Regina scoffed and thumped her head back down on the table.

"Listen," Emma said in a low tone, "I remember what it felt like to be married to you. I remember how happy I was. I'm not going to let something as trivial as it being a dream stop me from trying to attain that happiness. I'm in love with you, _right now_, and I don't care about _anything_ else."

"You're what?" The surprised voice of her pirate boyfriend startled Emma to look in the direction of the dining room archway. She slowly turned to face him and felt the red hot embarrassment crawl up her cheeks, "Killian, let me explain."

"Explain what? That you're in love with the Evil Queen? Have you gone _mad_? Has she cursed you?" He looked up to Regina who hadn't taken her eyes off of Emma, "What have you done to my love, you witch?!"

Regina slammed her palms down on the wooden surface of the table and stood up, whirling around on the pirate she spat, "Listen here, guyliner, I killed myself and two of my children today to keep Emma in my life, if you think for a moment I will hesitate to snap your neck-"

Emma jumped up from her position on the floor and grabbed Regina's wrist, "Regina…"

Killian's eyes grew wide, and he asked, "What in the bloody hell are you talking about?"

Henry held up his hand and chimed in, "Technically, I'm not dead and my sister never existed."

Regina said with a shaky voice, "She existed. I felt her move."

Emma rested a soothing palm on the rattled brunette and Killian shouted, "Has she lost what's left of her mind?"

"Killian," Emma's voice was soft and sympathetic as she knew what was going to come out of her mouth next was going to hurt him. "We need to talk." He stepped closer to her and blue eyes looked into sorrowful green, and he asked, "Has she done something to you, love?"

"No," Emma replied, then sighed and guided him into the next room and continued, "It's always been her. We've always had this, I don't know, _spark_, between us. Something did happen, but it wasn't caused by Regina, and I realized that I can't live without her."

"You're talking as if you're actually in love with that vile witch!" The anger on the man's face was underlined by his confusion, and he grabbed her by the upper arms and said, "This isn't how our story plays out, Swan!"

A cloud of dark purple whirls in next to the couple and the Evil Queen stepped out of it. Seeing the heat between the Savior and her pirate, she asked with a smile, "Did I come at a bad time, dear?"

Killian's eyes grew wide as he looked between the Evil Queen and the Mayor. He let go of Emma and drew the snub nose pistol from its holster within his boot and took aim at the Evil Queen. Emma saw the weapon a fraction too late, and as he discharged the gun, Emma had barely moved his aim, clipping the Queen in the arm.

"Killian! What are you doing?!" Emma yelled and ripped the weapon away from him.

Henry screamed, "Mom!" Emma turned to look between the Evil Queen and the Mayor, and she ran into the kitchen to where Regina was sitting on the floor, holding her arm, blood gushing from between her fingers.

Emma called to her son, "Henry, get towels from the drawer!"

Once he did as he was told, she split the stack and said, "Go to the other Regina and apply pressure on the wound, like this." She demonstrated what she needed him to do on the Mayor's wound, then pulled out her cell phone and dialed 911.

"Emma?"

"It's okay, babe, the ambulance is on its way."

Regina winced in pain and looked over at her evil counterpart and said, "She's going to kill your boyfriend for this."

"The bleeding has slowed. He didn't knick anything vital, and it's a through and through, you're going to have a couple of scars, but-"

"Mom!" Henry's frantic voice ripped the smile off of her face. "I can't get the bleeding to stop!"

Emma grabbed the Mayor's hand and secured the towel tourniquet with it and said, "Hold this here." She got up and rushed over to the Queen and could see the pallor in the woman's gaunt cheeks and the blood pooling under the arm.

She looked to Henry who was crying and said, "Kid, go check on your other mom, okay? I've got this."

"Please don't let her die, mom."

"Never," Emma said with a tight smile.

She quickly realized that Henry had only wrapped up one side of the woman's arm with the blood-soaked towel. She grabbed the puffy satin shoulder of the Queen's outfit and ripped it from the rest of the dress so she could see the wounds better. She took off her tee-shirt and wrapped it around the towel causing a tourniquet effect and soon she could see the color start to come back into the Queen's lips.

"You should have let her die!" Killian spat, still angry.

Emma's head whipped around and said in a low menacing voice, "Get out of my house."

"Swan!"

Emma shook her head in warning, "Get out while you still can."

Hurt crossed the dark features of the pirate, and he slowly backed away toward the door. Hesitating at the threshold, he said, "She's the Evil Queen, Emma. Can't you see that one of them has done something to you?"

She screamed, "Get out!"

The emergency response team rushed in past Hook and looked to the Savior for direction when one of them said, "There are two victims?"

"Take this one," Emma instructed. "The Mayor is stable, I'll take her and meet you at the hospital." She looked over at her son who was hugging his adoptive mother and said, "Hen, will you go with Queenie here and make sure nothing happens to her. Mom and I will meet you there."

A soft hollow voice said, "If you don't stop calling me that, I will rip your heart out."

"Sorry, no can-dosie, Queeniekins," Emma said with a chuckle. "Now you behave and let the nice people save your life, will ya?" She stepped aside and allowed the rescue workers to stabilize the Queen and get her up onto the stretcher.

"I'm going to destroy your happiness for that," the Queen weakly said. "If it's the last thing I do."

"Yeah yeah," Emma said and put her hand on Henry's shoulder and whispered, "She's going to be okay, kid. I promise, just keep her calm."

His teenaged arms wrapped around his blonde mother, and he breathed out, "Thank you."


	16. Chapter 16

Regina walked into the Emergency Room at Storybrooke General on her own power to find Henry pacing in the waiting room. Emma rushed over to him and asked, "Why aren't you still with the Queen?"

"They wouldn't let me! I told them she was still my mom!"

"Shit," Emma said and looked back at Regina who had a bemused look on her face.

"Go," the brunette said. "A wound won't stop her from Vader-choking Whale."

The color drained from Emma's face, and she went to reception and exclaimed, "Where did they take Regina?" The duty nurse corrected, "You mean the Evil Queen?"

Emma rolled her eyes and bypassed the secretary and pushed open the doors that led to the row of emergency beds and headed straight towards the commotion.

"She's the Queen-part of the Mayor. The one who cast the curse that sent us all here," a man said.

"If she dies, it would be justice," an orderly said with a look to the first man.

"If she dies, the Mayor dies, you dick!" Emma said, startling them. "If I find out you have done anything to this woman you are going to find yourselves in a jail cell."

"Savior!" the Queen called with a drawn-out hiss.

"Queenie, are you okay?"

A wide smile crossed the darker woman's face, and she said, "I'm going to kill you slowly, Savior." She closed her eyes and whispered dreamily, "In front of your mother."

"Promises promises," Emma said then turned to the doctor who was stitching closed the first wound and asked, "Did she give you any problems?"

"Me? No," the doctor replied, then added, "She was _unsettled_ by Doctor Whale's presence."

"I bet that's putting it mildly," Emma said. "She's okay? She lost about a pint or two."

"The bleeding stopped before she got to me, so I'm simply stitching her up."

The Mayor walked up behind Emma and looked down at her evil little drugged up clone and asked, "Are we going to make it?"

"Yeah, babe. They get you in okay?"

Regina thumbed back to the bed behind them and the doctor waiting for her. "I'm all set."

Emma reached her hand behind the Mayor's neck and pulled the woman close and asked, "I'm going to kiss you, is that okay?" Regina's eyes flicked down to the Savior's lips then back up to intense green eyes and nodded before the blonde leaned into her.

After a moment, a voice cleared and their son said, "Moms, that's gross, and everyone is staring."

"Let them stare," Emma said when she broke the kiss. She pulled away from the Mayor and said, "We can make this work."

"It won't be easy, Emma."

"Things that are worth it, never are, Regina." She guided the brunette to her bed and gave her another peck before focusing back on the Queen, who was just getting finished up.

"You see?!" Killian shouted from across the room, drawing Emma's attention.

"Emma, what's going on here?" Snow White asked with worry.

"Mom, stay back," Emma warned, not knowing how drugged the Evil Queen was and didn't want to provoke the woman with the sight of her nemesis. Not after whatever happened with Whale.

"Regina? What's going on?" The soft voice of Robin Hood pulled Emma's attention away from her worried parents and her accusatory ex-boyfriend who spoke up to inform, "Emma just left me for your girlfriend, mate."

"Killian!" Emma scolded.

The blond man slowed his pace to his injured girlfriend and looked confused at the information he'd just been given. "What?" Blue eyes looked at the next bed and grew wide in astonishment and demanded, "What the hell is she doing here?"

"Emma, sweetheart, what's going on?"

"Mom, I'm-"

"Emma?" the sound of the Mayor's voice was that of distress and the Savior put her hands up at the worried questions, quieting everyone except for Killian who had a wide satisfied smirk across his face. The blonde pointed at him and said, "Get out. Now."

"But sweetheart," Snow shook her head in confusion.

"You," Emma pointed at her parents, "May wait in the waiting room, but _he_ needs to leave. Right now."

David asked in astonishment, "Is that the Evil Queen?"

"Yes," Emma said, turning the couple toward the large swinging doors they came in and pushed them through.

"Regina, this isn't true, is it?" The soft voice of the thief rubbed Emma wrong, and when she turned back to face the man hovering over Regina, she saw tears in brown eyes.

Her instinct was to rush the guy and pull him away from her wife, but Regina wasn't her wife. So she looked to the watery set of eyes for what to do about the current situation. She noticed that Regina hadn't answered the question her boyfriend posed, she just sat and watched the doctor work on her wound.

Emma stood behind the doctor, directly in Regina's line of vision and said, "Tell me what you need me to do."

"Regina, I think I deserve an explanation."

"I can't do this right now," Regina answered Emma.

Blue eyes turned to the Savior, and he angrily spat, "Well, how about _you_? Why don't you tell me precisely what the hell is going on here?"

"My w-" Emma hesitated then corrected, "_She_ has had a really shitty day, and you're making it shittier."

"Who shot her? Why is the Evil Queen here? What was Killian talking about?"

"Killian shot the Queen, which affected Regina."

She saw relief wash over the man when he said, "Oh, you broke up with the pirate for the Evil Queen! That makes more sense." His smile faded, and his features bunched up in confusion when he asked, "The Evil Queen, Emma? _Really_?"

His misunderstanding and relief irritated Emma, but she stayed quiet. Breaking his heart wasn't her decision. If the Mayor wanted that, she would do it when she felt a little more herself.

"She isn't evil you brain dead oaf! My mom loves every part of my other mom, unlike _you_ who encouraged her to literally cut what was undesirable to you out of her!" Henry's voice was angry and hurt as he spoke harshly to his mother's boyfriend.

"Young man, I don't believe we've raised you to speak to an adult in such a way!" Blue eyes looked to Regina, who was watching the bandage get expertly wrapped around her bicep and whined, "Regina?"

Emma could see the Mayor had hit her limit on what she could handle for the day, so Emma opened her mouth to speak only to be cut off by Henry once again, "How _we've_ raised me? You're kidding, right?" He threw his hands up in the air in disbelief. "The one-handed wonder took more interest in me than you ever did!" Henry got closer to him, his anger unmasked with years of neglect and dismissal bubbling to the surface. "You barely talk to me, you've never shown any interest in anything to do with me other than how it affects my mom's time with you!"

"You're not even her bloody kid!" Robin spat in the face of Henry's accusation.

"Hey, neanderthal!" A slurred voice called from the other bed. "Get away from _my_ son!"

"No one asked you, _witch_!"

The doctor that was helping the Mayor got up from his stool and slowly backed away from her and Emma saw the look on Regina's face and how tightly she was clenching her fist and rushed to her side. Taking her hand, Emma looked up at the angry face of the thief and said in a quiet tone, "Get out, before I physically remove you."

Robin saw the anger in his soul mates face and the danger in the Sheriff and backed away from the hospital bed, his eyes never leaving Emma.

Regina turned to her son and held out her good arm for him to crawl into her embrace, which he did so quickly, seeing the need to comfort his mother as much as he needed her to comfort him.

"I _could_ kill him," the Queen said as she pondered aloud.

"Not today," Emma said in a low tone.

"I think I may grow fond of you, Savior."

"Get your claws away from _my wife_!" Regina growled.

"Wife?" The startled look on the Queen was comical. "When _the hell_ did that happen?"

"It's a long story," Emma answered and sat down on the Mayor's bed and patted her teenaged son on the back.

"Really, dear? Claws?" The Queen quipped, "You've always been such a drama queen, Regina."

Emma shot over her shoulder, "Yeah, _she's_ the drama queen, Your Highness."

Regina hugged her son and closed her eyes tight against what had just happened and whispered, "I'm sorry, Henry."

"It's okay, mom."

"No, it's not."

"No, it's not," he agreed. "I just want you to be happy. That's all I've ever wanted. I never imagined you and Emma could be happy together, but if you are, then I'm over playing step-son with one idiot and nuisance to the other one."

"I had no idea you felt that way, darling. I'm so sorry."

Henry shrugged and said, "I know."

"Savior," the Queen called and snapped her fingers as if summoning her.

Emma rolled her eyes and got up and went over to her bed and asked, "You beckoned, Queenie?"

"My son asked me to find out about your apparent nemesis, and I spoke to Rumple, who seems positively giddy at your untimely demise. His little Stepford wife is less excited, but your executioner is their son. Darling boy, albeit a bit dull."

"Gideon. Yeah, I had visions about him killing me."

The Queen grabbed Emma's wrist and pulled her down to level a look at her and hissed, "Your death will destroy her. You mustn't let that happen."

Emma's eyes slit with skepticism, and she asked, "You care about her?"

The Queen tossed the blonde's wrist aside, and lazily commented, "Care is probably overselling it."

"If-" Emma said quietly looking back at the Mayor and her son wrapped up in snuggs on the other bed and continued, "If we could find a way to put you back together, would you be willing?"

The Queen scoffed and said, "As if I'd be given a choice."

"You would," Emma defended. "You're Regina as much as she is."

"You've never seen me as Regina, Miss Swan."

"Maybe I was given the opportunity to see you in a new light? If she wants to stay separated, I won't force that on her either, but I'm giving both of you the choice."

"I wasn't given a choice to be ripped out!"

Emma rolled her eyes at the Queen's penchant for theatrics and asked, "Do you remember what I said to you when you first brought the idea up to me?"

The Queen sat up higher in her bed and lifted her nose away from the Savior and said, "You said everyone makes bad choices in life, but dealing with the fallout of those mistakes is what helps you grow." She side-eyed the Savior and added, "I don't see what I've done as mistakes."

"Maybe _you_ don't, but _she_ does."

"She is a pathetic excuse for a Queen."

"She's not the Queen, _you_ are. If you don't want to merge back together, we'll figure something out, but you can't go around doing evil shit."

The Queen motioned to the Mayor and asked, "Did she say she wanted that?"

"I haven't asked her yet," Emma admitted.

Dark eyes lowered, and Regina asked, "You asked _me_ first?"

"It's your life too," Emma said with a shoulder shrug. "I'm not making you do anything you don't want to, and if you don't, then that's the end of the discussion."

Dark eyebrows furrowed when she asked, "But I'm restricted in what I can do?"

"You're not allowed to hurt people, Regina, that seems like a relatively low bar to set."

"You clearly don't know some of these people," the Queen said in disgust as an orderly pushed a patient by in a wheelchair.

"So you don't want to be rejoined with the Mayor?"

"I didn't say that. I want to know what she wants."

Emma sighed and rolled her eyes and asked, "So you can do the opposite?"

"No!"

"I said no hurting people, that includes emotional abuse towards yourself."

"You are simply tying my hands, dear."

"That's also an option," Emma said, and the Queen smiled seductively, before the Sheriff added, "I sincerely doubt you'd like what I meant by that, Your Highness."

"Well, I'm positive you'd like what I meant by that, Savior."

Emma blushed and took a deep breath and said, "Maybe, but that isn't the deal."

"Shame," the Queen drawled in a low tone.

"Yes or no?"

The Queen contemplated for a moment then asked, "Do you even have a method to rejoin us, or is this a lesson in futility?"

"Yes. I've had Whale working on an antidote since the day you came back into town. He has something he's assured me will work."

"Whale? You expect me to trust that necrophiliac?!"

"I expect you to trust me. He doesn't want to get on my bad side."

"Why not? He agreeably got on mine!"

"To be fair, you were her," Emma said, looking over her shoulder at Regina who was cuddled into their son, eyes closed, cheeks stained with dried tears.

"Weak," the Queen spat.

Emma looked back and said, "Her strength comes from how fiercely she loves."

"She's proficient at weakness and failure, little more."

"Why do you hate her so much?"

The Queen had pure disdain on her face as she looked over at her peaceful counterpart and spat, "It was her that didn't stand up to mother. It was her who didn't speak up when the King asked for our hand. It was her that gave up and lost Daniel for good. It was her that didn't avenge his death by killing that wretched Snow White!" Dark eyes turned back to Emma, and she seethed, "It's all her fault!"

"I've met your mother," Emma said in a remorseful tone. "I can understand why she didn't fight. How hopeless it must have been to not even try."

"I tried! I _succeeded_!"

Emma nodded in agreement, then asked, "But at what cost?"

The Queen lowered her head, eyes burned into the Savior as she hissed, "My _soul_."

Emma motioned back toward the Mayor and said, "Not all of it." She looked back to the Queen and added, "You helped her raise Henry. If you were truly soulless, he would be a very different kid." She put her hand on the Queen's and said, "Look at him. He loves you. All of you."

"Regina said he thinks I can change, to be more like her."

"No, he thinks you're worth redeeming. He doesn't want you to be her. He already has her." Emma squeezed her hand and said, "I think you're worth redeeming too." She shrugged her shoulders and added, "For the record."

"For the record, I think you're wrong."

"I'm the savior, I'm never wrong."

"Oh, and you have your mother's arrogance! How delightful," the Queen deadpanned as she ripped away from the Savior's comforting grasp.

"Think about it and when you make your decision, let me know." Emma got up off the bed and said, "Are you going to be good while I go tell my folks what's up or do you need a sitter?"

"I believe I can monitor myself."

"Okay just don't leave or do anything stupid. I'm bringing you home with us."

The Queen laughed, "Home? Are we to play house?"

"You need help keeping that clean," Emma said and pointed at her wound.

"I'm going to murder Hook for this," Regina said in a dark tone as she lifted the injured arm.

Walking backward toward the Mayor, Emma pointed at the Queen and said, "No evil shit. I'll handle him." She turned her attention to Regina and Henry and laid her hand on his back and leaned in and kissed the brunette woman on the forehead.

"She's asleep," Henry whispered.

"She's had a rough day," Emma quietly replied. "I'm gonna go talk to Snow and David about Queenie, are you okay here?"

"No, I'm going to die of heat delirium."

Emma chuckled when she recalled being in bed with the Mayor in another life. "Yeah, she's the little furnace that could." She circled the bed and lifted Regina's good arm up so Henry could slide out then settled the slightly disturbed woman back down; tucking her in.

Henry wrapped his arms around her and asked, "Can I come with you?"

"Sure, kid." She kissed him on his crown and asked, "Are you okay?"

The boy shrugged when he replied, "I talked mom into killing us because some lady killed you. It's been a weird day."

"Yeah," she hugged him tighter and said, "That was the dream."

"That was the nightmare," Henry said. "In real life, I'm a hero, I have powers, I have friends. Mom is good, and you are the White Knight."

Emma chuckled and kissed him again and said, "Not to mention your girlfriend right, it is _girlfriend_, isn't it?"

Henry smugly smiled and said, "It's official. I asked her to go steady."

"Steady?" Emma asked. "What is this 1976?"

Henry laughed and said, "Yeah, she's really groovy, man. Like totally far out."

"I think that was 1968, but you're close, kid." She pushed him toward the doctor's lounge and said, "Come on, we've gotta make a pitstop before the inquisition with grandma and grandpa."


	17. Chapter 17

After listening to the good doctor spout off about the Evil Queen, including showing her the bruises he got during the altercation, Emma retrieved the syringe with the antidote from Whale. She warned him not to antagonize the Queen, because for the moment she was agreeable, and Emma wanted to keep her that way.

Henry held her hand as they walked back toward the waiting room and said, "Did you talk to her about the antidote?"

"I talked to the Queen. I'm pretty sure I know how Regina feels about it and if she surprises me, then she doesn't have to." She pushed open the doors and guided him into the lobby and said, "I just want her to have the option."

"You do love her, don't you?"

Emma smiled and dropped her gaze when she answered, "Yeah, I think I do."

"I think she loves you too," he said, slowing her pace with a tug of the arm. "I've never seen her like she was after you died. She was all vengeance and then just broken. It was scary."

Emma's dark green eyes look worried as she mulled over the information her son just gave her. "Did she kill that witch in front of you?"

Henry shook his head no and said, "She restrained her, and then we ran away."

"That was probably the right call, kid."

"I know," he said with a shrug and added, "During the dream, I wished I had my author powers so I could bring you back."

"Hey, that's not what it's for," she shook her head and said with a tight smile, "You saw the path Issac took. You're a better author than that." Emma's eyes were drawn to the waiting room where she saw Hook pacing in front of her parents, who were sitting together on a loveseat. "That guy is not taking the hint," she murmured and was startled when Henry turned and started fast walking over to the trio.

"Hey! Don't you speak English, mate?" Henry got into Hook's face and said, "You tried to kill my mom!"

"Son," Killian said, holding up his hook in defense.

"Don't. You're not my _father_. Didn't you try to be my _father's_ father once upon a time? It's seriously creepy that you snaked your way into my mom's life."

"I _wasn't_ your father's father," the pirate defended with a scoff as he looked around at the other adults in the vicinity.

"Not for the lack of trying," Henry said. "You were with my grandmother! It's weird and gross, just like you asking me about sex with Violet!"

"You what?" David asked as he stood up and put himself between Killian and his grandson.

"Yeah, he asked for details," Henry informed with a smug look on his face.

"She's fifteen years old!" Emma exclaimed.

Wide blue eyes looked at Emma in shock as he tried to explain, "He doesn't have a man to look up to, I was getting a feel for where he was in his development."

"Doesn't have a man to look up to?" Henry exclaimed. "My grandfather is Prince friggen Charming!" Henry shook his head in disgust and said, "The only reason I don't have a father is that you helped those Pan henchmen. You turned my mom over to be tortured, and then you let them carry on. As long as Hook gets what Hook wants!"

"Henry, that's not fair, I've _changed_." He looked to the boy's mother and asked, "Emma, tell him?"

"What exactly have you changed, pirate?" Henry continued. "Because to me, all I see is when Emma is near, you follow her around like a puppy and when she's not, you're the pirate you're pretending not to be!"

"I _love_ her, you little shit!" the pirate exclaimed.

"Get him out of here," Emma said with disgust.

Henry lifted a smug eyebrow in victory and smirked as David grabbed Killian's hook and started to move him toward the exit. As the men went through the door Henry shouted, "If you really loved her you wouldn't have shot my mom!"

"Jesus Christ, kid!" Emma came in close and took him up in her arms and asked, "Why didn't you tell me any of that?"

"I thought you loved him."

Emma pulled back and looked intently into his eyes and said, "Loving him is under the condition that I know how you feel, kid. Anyone I date only gets dated because you're happy too. You're first, _always_."

"Okay, but now that you're dating my mom-"

"Sweetheart?" Snow interjected, "About that," she looked around to find the right question and stumbled out, "How did that...come about?"

"It's a long story," Emma said and hugged her son and added, "before we talk about the intricacies of my love life, I need to figure out what I'm doing about Rumple's kid."

"You have a lead on the baby?"

"No, well, yes." Emma rolled her eyes and said, "The man in the hood from my visions, is Gideon.

With a perplexed look on her face, Snow asked, "I've… missed… so much, haven't I?"

"It's been a long day. I'm going to get Regina home," she let go of Henry and hugged Snow and continued, "Thanks for coming even though the douche bag brought you down here to stir up shit."

"Well the douche bag suggested you were under a curse, are you sure you're okay?"

Emma pulled back and gave her mother a half-smile and said, "I'm better than okay."

"What are you going to do with the Evil Queen?" The look on Snow's face was pensive.

"I'm taking her home with me."

Snow cocked her head to the side and asked, "I'm sorry?"

"She can't go back to that damp cold crypt. She needs somewhere clean so she can keep her wound clear of debris."

"So you're going to nursemaid both Regina _and_ the Evil Queen," Snow deadpanned.

"We're calling her Queenie," Emma said with a big grin.

Henry chuckled and added, "Only until she kills you."

Emma rolled her eyes and looked back at her son and said, "If she was gonna kill me, she would have." She chuckled and added, "I'm growing on her."

Snow pulled her eyebrows in with worry and said, "Emma, I'm a bit concerned." Her face lit up when she suggested, "How about I come and help you?"

"Because one of them wants you dead and I don't feel like running interference," Emma replied frankly.

"How can you be so cavalier about her desire to murder me?"

"I know she doesn't really _want_ you dead, Snow."

"In my experience, I believe she does," David said, as he walked up and put a comforting arm around his wife.

Emma rolled her eyes and conceded, "Okay, maybe she does _actively_ want it, but she's had plenty of opportunities to kill you."

"Perhaps she didn't because good always triumphs over evil!"

Emma smirked and said, "If _I_ wanted you dead, you'd _be_ dead."

Snow's green eyes grew large, and she exclaimed, "Emma Swan! That's a terrible thing to say to me!"

"No," Emma said, "It's factually accurate." She sighed and continued, "My point is, having you or dad around will probably just stress her out, and she's much easier to deal with mellow."

"And drugged," Henry said with a smirk.

"The drugs didn't hurt," Emma admitted, agreeing with her son.

"How are you going to take care of both of them?"

"First of all, it's a flesh wound." Emma wrapped her arm around her boy and said, "Second of all, I've got Henry."

"Yeah, we'll be fine," Henry said with a smile.

"Clearly neither of you have ever seen Regina in discomfort," Snow said with a snortle.

"I lived through nine full months of Regina's discomfort; I can handle her."

"I'm sorry what?" Snow asked with a perplexed look.

"It's a long story," Henry said and put his head on Emma's shoulder.

Emma gave a simplified version of what her experience was of the dream world, and Snow and David sat with mouths open taking in every word.

"I know there are parts of it I don't really recall, but that was the main gist."

Snow shook her head in disbelief and said, "So you both decided, because someone cursed you, that you were going to, what, _date_?"

"I think dating is a reasonable start," Emma replied with a blush.

David looked skeptical and asked, "What if whatever caused the dream caused you both to have these feelings?"

"I don't think it works that way because Henry had the same dream, and his feelings haven't changed. Right kid?"

"I feel more confident?" Henry said and looked up at his mother.

"Yeah, I noticed," Emma said with the quirk of her brow.

"Getting picked on at school made me realize how much I used to sit back and take crap for things I can't control." Henry shook his head and said, "I'm not like that anymore."

Emma cupped his cheek and said, "Regina was right, you've grown up so fast. What happened to my little boy?"

Henry blushed and said, "I guess you'll just have to settle for the hero I grew up to be."


	18. Chapter 18

After taking personal responsibility and reassuring everyone involved that she was of sound mind, Emma packed up both Regina's and their son in her Volkswagon and drove them to her house. Neither Regina was pleased about that fact, and they went back and forth between the Mayor in the passenger seat and the Queen behind the driver's seat next to Henry.

They bickered with one another, and at Emma, the entire trip. Emma came to a stop in front of the large white farmhouse and turned to the Mayor and put an end to the argument over which home would be more comfortable, "My guest room is right next to my room-"

"Your and _Guyliner's_ room," the Queen corrected with glee, smirking toward Regina.

"Quiet," Emma said, not taking her eyes off of the Mayor and continued, "At your place, the guest room is down the hall. Henry's room _and_ the bathroom would be between us." She looked back at the devious look the Queen held and said, "Queenie said she's going to behave, but trust is _earned_."

The Queen leaned in and whispered to the Savior, "I'm going to murder you in your sleep." She popped the p in the word sleep and smiled wide in her bloodlust.

Regina gave the Queen a sharp look and said, "Over our dead bodies."

"Testy testy, Madam Mayor," the Queen antagonized.

Emma cocked her head to the side and shot Regina a look before adding, "She isn't going to murder me. She enjoys playing with her prey."

The Evil Queen leaned in and hissed, "I do prefer it when you fight back, dear."

"Will you have an ounce of respect! Our child is in this vehicle!" the Mayor barked before aggressively exiting the car.

"Well someone's making himself an appointment with Archie," Henry muttered before pushing the passenger seat forward so he could get out of the cramped car.

Emma looked back at the Queen and said, "Be good."

"Never," the Queen breathed through a maniacal grin.

Once Emma helped the Queen out of the car, Regina instructed Henry to take her evil counterpart into the house and held Emma back to discuss what had her hesitant about staying at the Sheriff's home. "What are the sleeping arrangements?"

"What do you mean?"

Regina folded her arms around herself and asked, "I mean, where is everyone sleeping for the foreseeable future?"

The Savior scrunched up her face in confusion as if the answer should be as plain as day and replied, "Henry in his room, Queenie in the guest and you and me in my room, why?"

"You want me to sleep in Guyliner's bed?"

Emma considered for a moment then asked, "Would you prefer I give my room to her, and we take the guest room? Because it's my bed, Regina. I bought this house and everything in it."

"You wish to stay with me?" Regina asked slowly, then clarified, "Not with _her_?" The rising jealousy over Emma's attention of her darker self hit its peak at the hospital with the Queen's overt flirtation.

Emma looked up at the house with confusion and asked, "What are you asking me?"

Regina turned away and said with frustration, "You know damn well what I'm asking you, Emma Swan!"

Emma smiled knowingly as she stepped closer, putting her hands on the brunette's hips and said, "It's so rare you show your jealousy, Regina Mills, you can't blame me for milking it a little."

The Mayor folded her arms over her chest and spat, "You're not amusing."

"Queenie thinks so," Emma said in a low voice at the base of the Mayor's neck when she pulled the woman closer.

Regina shrugged off the advances and turned around with irritation then said, "I refuse to play this game with you."

"Look," Emma said then got back into the Mayor's personal space, caressing her cheek and continued, "I like getting a rise out of her, and I'll admit that I see some of my wife in her because she _is_ you, Regina. Parts of you that I loved because I married the complete package; I loved all of you."

Regina dropped her gaze and murmured, "You never asked me to stop being me."

"I never would," Emma confirmed and kissed the side of the contemplating woman's head and said with a laugh, "Come on, let's go tell Queenie she's taking the master bedroom, that should get under her skin."

"I find it disturbing that you gain joy from essentially annoying me to rage."

Emma chuckled and said, "Remember the year before the curse broke? Your irritation was a personal pastime for me."

Regina's eyes fluttered closed, and she was suddenly leading the Savior into her vault. She felt extreme irritation that Emma had insisted on accompanying her to get a locator spell to find their son when it had been Emma who lost him, to begin with. She made a motion to unlock the double doors to the mausoleum and remembered the lock had been broken by her blonde guest then rolled her eyes and shoved the doors open.

Emma put her hands on her hips and accused, "You haven't gotten that fixed yet?"

"No, between curses being broken, wraiths trying to eat my soul and assisting with getting you and my nemesis back from the Enchanted Forest, I haven't had a lot of time for property repairs," Regina snarked as she walked into the small room.

"Yeah, let's not forget going all dark side with Mommy Dearest," Emma commented as she followed the woman into the small stone monument.

Regina turned around and spat, "Who could forget when you bring it up every five minutes, Miss Swan?"

Emma's hands were wrapped around her waist as her eyelids fluttered open, and the blonde came into focus.

"What do I bring up every five minutes?"

"I… um… we weren't here," Regina said and looked around the front yard of Emma's home, disoriented.

"What? Are you alright?"

"You keep asking me that," Regina said absently as she pulled away from Emma's embrace.

"You avoid answering me," Emma said and took a step closer.

"I don't believe I am." Regina turned back to look into worried green eyes and clarified, "I don't think I am alright, at all."

Warm fingers took up her good hand and gently pulled her closer, "Tell me what's wrong."

"I- I don't know," Regina said and allowed the Savior's arms to snake themselves around her. She leaned her head against the blonde's shoulder and said, "I keep seeing something…" She trailed off for a moment, and Emma stroked her hands down her back and allowed her time to put the feelings into words. "I keep seeing us, but we're not us, but still we are.

We are in the cemetery and Henry has gone missing; he's…" She lifted her head and looked at the Savior and remembered what it felt like to hate her. Truly genuine, guttural hate. The woman had destroyed everything she touched in the Queen's life, and it made her sick to her stomach. "He's angry with us."

"Henry is in the house with Queenie, babe." Emma tucked a long strand of hair back behind the Mayor's ear and said, "He isn't mad at us. He wants us to be happy."

"You're not listening to me!" Regina snapped, feeling the anger her vision had stoked boil up to the surface. "You never listen to what I'm _saying_!" She rolled her eyes when the Savior withdrew from her and folded her arms across her chest. "I'm _seeing_ things, Emma," Regina clarified.

"Like visions?"

"Sort of." Regina started to pace and tried to remember the overall theme of the visions and remembered one thing perfectly clear. "Henry was young."

"So you're having memories?"

"No, I don't remember these events ever happening. But yet, I do." Regina took a deep breath and looked up at the Savior and said, "I felt things about you that I can't imagine feeling, now."

"Look, you've been through a rough couple of days-"

"Don't patronize me, Miss Swan."

"Don't Miss Swan me, babe." Emma chuckled as she pulled the Mayor into a hug and said, "I'm simply saying, it's been a rough couple of days."

"I _hated_ you," Regina said in a low voice.

"Do you hate me?" Emma simply asked, and when the brunette shook her head no, she added, "Then let's focus on getting you better."

Regina pulled back looking the blonde in the eyes. The soft green eyes of the woman she loved. These eyes were alive, her Savior was alive. She cupped the blonde's cheek and pulled her down into a passionate kiss. She couldn't hate this woman. Never again.


	19. Chapter 19

As suspected, the Queen was none too pleased when she discovered the new sleeping arrangements and decided to take that displeasure out on the Mayor. After dinner, Regina was sitting at the head of the kitchen table, using some of Henry's art supplies to sketch out the unique bottle her son in her vision had dropped. She could still feel the cool feel of the magic that had surrounded them, and the panic she felt as the grey smoke filled her vision.

_Then nothing._

Figuring out what that bottle was felt important. That nagging feeling she's felt since the first vision had grown louder, and she needed to know what was in her young son's hands. The problem was, she couldn't remember everything about every vision. Not with any kind of consistency, so as she recalled details of the scene, she sketched them out.

The Queen pulled a hard wooden chair around, letting the feet rub loudly against the floor so she could sit right next to Regina. She picked up the hem of her large billowing dress before making herself comfortable. She sat for a moment in silence, looking on at the Savior and their son going through the storybook at the other end of the table.

"She's something else, isn't she?"

"Don't. I'm wholly not in the mood."

The Queen rested her head on Regina's shoulder and cooed, "That just makes me want to needle you, dear. Why would you reveal your weakness in such a foolhardy way? No wonder Snow got the best of you."

Silence from the focused Mayor rubbed the Queen the wrong way, and she asked, "She is quite the beauty, why haven't you conquered that yet?" With a laugh, she answered herself, "Ah right, you're just friends! You're pathetic, Regina. Friend-zoned by Snow's dimwitted offspring."

A silent clenched jaw was all she got in response, so she leaned in, pressing her nose into her counterpart's hair and whispered, "If you don't fuck her, I will."

The Mayor shoved her darker self away and hissed, "Have you no sense of decency?"

A sly cackle replied, "No."

"What Miss Swan and I are, is none of your business! Do not test me; you have no idea what I'm willing to do for her."

The Queen smiled in her victory, "I know better than anyone where your boundaries lie when you want something, dear."

Regina closed her eyes and pooled her patience and hissed, "I wish I never split myself. You are far more annoying now than you ever were in my head!"

The Queen laughed and sing-songed, "Our little Savior has an an-ti-dote."

"I am well aware," Regina replied and aggressively went back to her drawing.

Put off at not having shocked her lesser half, the Queen asked with suspicion, "She told you?"

"No, she told _Snow_."

The Queen rolled her eyes and mumbled, "Some things never change."

A small smile graced the Mayor's lips, but she continued to shade in the bottle she was drawing.

"She gave _me_ the choice," the Queen said after a moment with a dignified smirk.

"I figured she would," the Mayor replied with disinterest, and when her darker self pulled back and pouted, she added, "She knows you better than you think she does."

"That's irritating," the Queen sulked.

Regina shrugged her good shoulder and said, "Sometimes." After a moment of silence from the Queen, Regina put the pad of paper she was working on down and looked at her darker self and said, "She also makes us the happiest we've ever been. She knows us. I trust her."

"What happened between the two of you since I've been away?"

Regina smiled and told her of their shared dreamscape where they'd been married. The Queen seemed to know nothing of it, and Regina believed the shock she saw in dark features.

"So that's what she's doing now? Trying to figure out who attacked you?" Regina nodded and returned to her drawing when the Queen asked, "And what are you doing?"

"Trying to figure out what this bottle is. I've seen it in a vision, and it feels important."

The Queen snatched the pad away from the Mayor and looked at it more closely and said, "That looks like the bottle Mother kept Peyoteconte in, dear."

"Peyoteconte?"

The Queen handed the sketch back and said, "Yes, well, that would cause your marital bliss, for certain."

Regina shook her head in confusion, and the Queen added, "You never did pay attention to what Mother was doing." She rolled her eyes as if it were painful to provide the information, "Think of it as a magical couple's therapy."

Recollection finally hit Regina, and she said, "As a way to share desires." Her attention is drawn to Emma, who was pacing behind Henry tossing a baseball between her hands as she verbally theorized to their son. "What if it's used on three people instead of two?"

The Evil Queen chuckled darkly and answered, "Chaos?" She studied the seriousness in her better half's features and said, "I don't believe it will work on three. If it did, it would be highly unstable. Why?"

Regina shook her head and said, "I've got a bad feeling."

The Evil Queen looked toward the Savior and asked, "A bad feeling like, she's going to die?"

Regina dropped the pad of paper on the table and said, "Not if I can help it."

Cool fingertips grazed over Regina's shoulder as the Queen hissed, "You're going to need me when you ultimately fail."

Regina looked at the Queen and asked, "Like you helped me last time we lost love?"

"We'll have nothing left to lose," the Queen hissed, pure joy spread across her tight features.

The Mayor looked at her, dark eyes glassy at the memories of the Sheriff's lifeless green eyes and their son hysterically crying over her and said, "We have Henry to lose."

The mention of the boy's name darkened the dark woman's features, and she asked, "He would be displeased with mayhem and murder, wouldn't he?"

The Mayor laid a look on the dark woman and deadpanned, "Yeah?"

The Evil Queen sneered and hissed, "Well, he'll learn to like it, we did!"

Regina scoffed and sat back with a knowing look which made the Queen roll her eyes, remembering who she was talking to and asked, "Well, what do you suggest we do?"

The Mayor nodded toward the blonde and said, "We don't let her die."

"Are you suggesting we take Whale's antidote?"

The Mayor lifted an eyebrow and said, "Now that you mention it, maybe I am."

The darker brunette laughed and said, "Why would I ever do such a thing?! I rather enjoy flirting with your Sheriff," she leaned in and said in a seductive voice, "Winning her affections."

"For how long?" Regina whisper shouted, "Were you always this selfish? Don't you understand who she is? What she means to me? What she means to both of us?"

Dark eyes narrowed when the words were spat, "You love her! You idiot! Why would you do this again?"

"Why? Look at her!" She jabbed her finger toward Emma, "That is our happily ever after! She loves us!" Regina looked toward the blonde and said quietly, "She accepts us." Watery eyes looked at the Queen and said, "She accepts _you_."

"_You're_ the one who's supposed to."

Regina put her hand over the Queen's and said, "I'm learning."

The Queen caressed the Mayor's cheek with her free hand, running her thumb over plump lips. "Tell me you need me."

Despite what others have told her, she still felt she needed the Queen. She was a part of her, and since the separation, she has felt less capable. Apologetic brown eyes looked over her darker selves features and said, "I'm sorry for trying to destroy you."

A gentle smile curved around blood-red lips before the Queen replied, "You were a fool to believe you could."

"I know," Regina said, mostly to herself. She felt an urgency in her sincerity when she stated in a low tone, "I need you to help me save her."

"I'll consider your request," the Queen said then sat back in her chair with a wide smile.

"This isn't a game."

"I'm well aware, dear." The Queen laughed and added, "Not a game I am absolutely winning!"

Regina turned away from the amused brunette and folded her arms, "You are impossible!"

* * *

The Evil Queen retired to her quarters after winning an argument against Regina, which allowed Henry to go spend the night at his friend's house for the night. She was riding high on the win and figured it would be best if he were out of the house while she used her last night as a free woman to her advantage. After several well-timed innuendos toward the Savior, Henry was more than happy to vacate the premises, and she basked in the win over Regina. She'd already decided she would agree with the Savior's plan to return her to her dull and orderly cage, but she was enjoying forcing the Mayor to beg her. Regina needed her, and they both knew it. Knowing something and feeling it are two different animals and the Queen relished in the Mayor's regret.

She used magic to dress into the black silken nightshirt she intended on sleeping in and pulled her long dark hair up into a braid then looked around the Savior's large bedroom. She could hear the blonde talking to her lesser half, just beyond the thin walls and wondered how hard Regina would protest before she ultimately gave in to her wishes.

She scrunched up her face at the sight of Emma's large bed and decided she would go stir some trouble with the Mayor.

When she entered the guest room, she saw Regina sitting on the edge of the bed, dressed in a pair of Emma's pajamas, adjusting her bandage. She cleared her throat, drawing the Mayor's attention, then approached and aided her by securing the clean dressing to the back of her arm.

"I've given your earlier request some thought, and I've decided to grant you favor as I am not confident you alone will be able to save her."

"What do you want?"

The Queen pouted and sat down next to the Mayor and asked with her best innocent tone, "What makes you think I want anything?"

"Because Mother taught us always to use leverage to our advantage. So what do you want?"

The Queen leaned into the Mayor's personal space and with a wide maniacal smile, slowly said, "I want to fuck her."

"No." Regina shook her head and repeated, "There's no way I'm leaving her alone with you."

The Queen slid her hand up Regina's thigh and said, "Then stay." She unbuttoned the third button to her nightshirt and slid her fingertips down between her breasts and said, "We could both fuck her, Regina. Tell me you haven't thought about it; the three of us."

"I haven't!"

"Perhaps not," the Queen smirked, then drawled, "but I'm certain she has."

The Mayor scoffed, "The only thing the Savior wants to do with you, is drive you crazy!"

Dark lust-filled eyes lower themselves to take in the velvety lips of her better half before the Queen replied, "I bet she would."

"Are you enjoying her torments thus far, _Queenie_?" She accentuated the name, causing the appropriate amount of discomfort to her darker half.

"Mere foreplay, do you forget what it feels like to be a sadist dear?" The Queen leaned in and whispered, "I can smell the sexual frustration off of her."

It was then that the topic of their conversation came back from her shower. She was dressed in a white tank top and snugly fit short-shorts. "Hey," Emma said, stopping dead in her tracks, stilling the towel that was drying her hair.

The Queen drawled, "Precisely the woman I'm looking for!"

Emma noticed the hand high on Regina's thigh and the ample cleavage the Queen was sporting and let out a high pitched whine. "Uh... What are you two doing?

Regina noticed the familiarity of desire in her wife's features and lifted a curious eyebrow. She'd felt the pang of jealousy die down when she noticed the Savior's green eyes bounce between her and her evil counterpart. Perhaps the Queen was right; it looked as though Emma could be attracted to both halves of her. This sudden realization settled low in her abdomen, and her heart began to beat faster.

The Queen licked her lips in the standard Regina flirting style and cooed, "It's my last night free from her sexual rigidity, and I'd like to have some fun."

"What do you mean, 'last night' and she isn't sexually rigid," Emma defended.

The Queen rolled her eyes and said, "What do you know? You're with a man who thinks pleasuring a woman means repeatedly stabbing her with his little hook." The Queen held up her pinky and curled it in on itself with a mock pout.

"I'm not with him," Emma defended feeling as though she were being personally attacked. "And it wasn't that little!"

"Emma!" The Mayor exclaimed in horrified shock.

"What?" Emma huffed, "It wasn't! Neal's was smaller!"

"Poor Henry," the Queen drawled with an exaggerated sigh. "Your choice in men is horrendous, dear." She turned back towards Regina and caressed her cheek and said, "Your choice in women is far superior."

Regina pushed the Queen's hand away from her face with a frown and shot her a look in warning. The Queen raised a silent eyebrow and darted her eyes in Emma's direction. When the Mayor looked up at the blonde, she was licking her bottom lip and looking at them like they were candy.

"Emma?"

Emma shook her head clear of the memories she had of the Mayor and the Queen kissing in the graveyard and stumbled out, "My point is, we have _amazing_ sex. _Would_ have. _We would have_ amazing sex. _Regina_. _Regina and I_ would have _amazing_ sex."

The Evil Queen smirked and unbuttoned another one of her shirt buttons and quipped, "After your close encounters of the shrunken kind, I can see how you'd think that."

Regina could see Emma's lust from a mile away, and in a small way, she was flattered the blonde could find her darkness sexually attractive. At first, she felt the jealousy she was accustomed to in the way Emma was looking at her counterpart and that small voice in her head that told her she would never be who the Savior chose, got softer.

Emma was choosing her. All of her. In ways Robin never would. The Evil Queen was her, and Emma was looking at the pit of her darkness and still found her attractive. Still found her desirable. Still wanted her. It wasn't just a dream! Emma truly accepted her!

She was uncertain as to what her evil side would do if she was denied her request and decided that if it were going to happen, she wouldn't be sharing Emma with the Queen. No. She would be taking control of the request and adding stipulations. She had lessons to teach her mouthy evil counterpart about her abilities in the bedroom, so she pushed the Queen back onto the bed, pinning her arms above her head as she straddled her.

"Ow! You imbecile! My arm!"

Regina hovered a breath away from the Queen's lips and gritted, "I thought you liked it rough, Your Majesty."

"Holy crap," Emma said, staring at the scene in front of her in disbelief.

"As you are well aware, scarification is a hard limit!"

Regina turned her head and looked at Emma when she asked, "Do you want her?"

"That wasn't the deal," the Queen said, struggling under the Mayor's powerful grip.

"The deal has changed," Regina said, looking back down on the Queen. "If the Savior wants us…" She leaned down and pecked a kiss against her own lips before continuing, "Then she may have us."

The Queen smirked then looked up at a contemplating Emma. She bent her knee and pressed it between Regina's legs causing the Mayor to moan in surprise.

"Are you serious?" Emma finally asked once she regained her faculties.

Regina pushed aside the Queen's mostly open shirt and exposed a puckered nipple before grabbing hold of the breast it belonged to. She pinched it roughly causing the Queen to roll her eyes into the back of her head and cry out, "Yes!"

Emma closed the door to the room at the sudden volume of the Queen's exclamation and tentatively got closer to the women in the bed. She looked directly at the Mayor and asked, "Are _you_… serious?"

The Mayor nodded her head and beckoned her over with a bent finger.

Emma hesitated for just a moment, wondering what's gotten into her previously jealous wife to take such a sudden turn, but when she got an eye roll from the Mayor, she quickly complied with the offer.

Regina sat up across the Queen's thighs, reaching out for the Savior's hand, guiding her up onto the bed. Emma closed her eyes and leaned in and pressed her thin pink lips against tentative plum. Strong, delicate hands wrapped themselves around the light cotton tee shirt the Mayor had chosen from the blonde's wardrobe to sleep in. Emma pulled back and looked into dark eyes and asked, "Regina's choice?"

The Mayor looked down at the Queen who was pinching at her own nipples looking at the two of them, then stretched her neck out for the Savior and asked, "What's my choice?"

Emma took the bait and bit into the Mayor's neck before replying, "Would you like to get fucked by us? Or would you like to fuck Queenie with me?"

"Don't you know our Mayor is a bottom?" The Queen sat up and with a snap of her fingers, her better half was nude. She pulled her by a fist full of her much shorter hair and down into a hard kiss. Regina winced in pain at the force used. Emma grabbed the tail of the Queen's thick black braid and pulled her off of Regina and then drew her close; looking down on the Queen who was trying to mask her discomfort, she said, "She isn't _your_ bottom."

The Queen strained against the tight grip to get an arrogant look at Regina and boasted, "Foreplay." A glimmer passed over large black eyes, and she added with a lick of her lips, "She's a keeper."

Emma slid her free hand down around the Mayor's ass and between her thighs. She pulled the Queen into a rough kiss that caused her to groan just as Regina let out her own satisfied sigh and Emma chuckled and said, "Or I could fuck the both of you."

Regina licked up the side of Emma's neck and said, "Why is there no option where you are on the menu, darling?"

Emma leaned in and whispered into the Mayor's ear, and when she pulled away, Regina stared intently at her lips before crashing into them.

"What did you say?" the Queen demanded and Emma broke Regina's kiss. "If I wanted you to know, I wouldn't have whispered it, now would I?"

"You think the Mayor is the real Regina? I am every bit her as she is me! Keeping secrets is bad form, Miss Swan!"

"Can you remember being married to me?"

The Queen saw the hungry look in her better half's eyes as she watched the Sheriff talk down to her, then turned and with defiance said, "Of course I do!"

A smirk came from the blonde before she asked, "What was our daughter's name?"

Panic flashed in dark eyes at the ease in which the Savior could call out her lie, but she settled and said what she knew in her soul to be true. Regina would never have given the child a name before her birth. "She didn't have one yet," the Queen smiled in victory.

"Yeah, but what did we _call_ her?"

Anger flashed where victory had just been, and the Queen snapped her attention to the Mayor and hissed, "You imbecile! You named her?!"

"I didn't name her, Emma did!" the Mayor defended.

Emma snapped her fingers and said, "Focus, Queenie. My point is, this was the Regina I was married to. She's the one who gets my secrets."

"Did she rip me from her in that world, too?"

Emma looked at Regina and said, "No, I would never ask her to."

"So? Even if I can not recall your foolhardy testing of fate with our child's name, Savior, _I was there_."

Even without her warpaint style makeup, her features were darker, more pronounced, as if what she was inside colored every aspect of her being. Emma leaned in and pressed against the dark lips of the Queen.

"You're right. You were there," Emma said, palming a warm cheek. "I'm still not telling you."

Seeing that the Savior was seemingly sticking to her guns, the Queen smiled and cooed, "As long as I get that mouth on me, she can keep your nonsensical secrets."

Regina grabbed Emma's chin and pulled her in and whispered, "Me first."

"You witch!" The Queen grabbed Regina by the neck and squeezed. Not tight enough to be painful, but enough to make a point.

Emma could see the tight panting of the Mayor and knew she still could breathe and asked, "Your Majesty?" Emma wanted the women, but in order to have them, the Queen needed to be appeased. She recalled a casual comment about flattery made by her wife and decided to appeal to the Evil Queen's vanity.

The Queen's dark head snapped to attention, chin up, defiant to the end as she waited for Emma to continue. Emma smiled and innocently asked, "Will you teach me how to please you on her so when I worship my queen, I won't fail?"

"Look at her! She is painfully turned on. You'll need to do little more than breathe on her sex, and she will come all over you!" The Queen pulled back her lips into a tight sneer and hissed at her lesser half, "You're pathetic."

Emma looked down over Regina, and her wife was most certainly turned on. Her nipples were tight, and Emma could see the glistening desire Regina left on the Queen's thigh. "Well then," she said. "Looks like she is going to have to control herself until I am satisfied I've learned what I need to please you, Your Majesty."

"I should be the judge of that," the Queen pushed, leaning into the Mayor.

Emma bent down and whispered, "She's not your bottom."

"I hate that I love how possessive you are," the Queen quipped just before kissing the Savior hard on the lips.

Emma pulled back and circled Regina, gliding her hands over the woman's abdomen, touching everything, she began kissing her shoulder. The brunette started to grind her hips against the Queen beneath her, and her darker self wrapped her hands around her thighs and guided her. Regina moaned as Emma ran her hand lower on her abdomen and with her other hand, cupped her breast. "Don't come until I say you can, Regina. I want to draw out your pleasure for as long as possible. Do you understand?"

Regina whispered, "Please."

Emma looked over the Mayor's shoulder and said to the Queen, "Show me how to tease her, your Majesty."

"You think you control me now, do you, Savior?"

Emma chuckled at the feistiness of the Queen and removed one of her hands from Regina's breast and slid it between both women's thighs until she reached the Queen's slick center. She slipped her fingers around the woman's nerve bundle and said, "You're mine in the same way she is mine."

The darker brunette groaned, "I hate you, Savior."

Deft fingers slipped into where they were welcomed, and Emma replied, "This doesn't feel like hate to me, Queenie."

Black eyes opened and bore into the blonde, and she spat, "No one in the history of torture will be tortured with the torture you'll be tortured with if you keep calling me that, Savior."

Emma twisted her fingers and added another to the Queen's juicy opening, and angry dark eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she moaned.

Regina could feel Emma between her legs, pleasuring the Queen beneath her. She covered the hand that was cupping her sex and guided it down over her throbbing clit, grinding her hips into it as she listened to her darker self get off. She could tell the Queen was close and grabbed her breasts in that rough way she knows she likes and leaned back to kiss the Savior behind her.

"That's right, you're mine!" Emma exclaimed as both the Mayor and the Queen fell over their peak at almost the same time. She stilled her fingers between both sets of thighs and whispered to the Mayor, "I love you, babe."

Breathless gasps replied, "I'm sorry. I climaxed. It was too much."

"I know, baby. Just know it won't be your last orgasm tonight."


	20. Chapter 20

A disturbance next to her stirred Regina from her restful sleep. She opened one eye and looked down at the Savior, who was failing to keep her giggles under control. "Miss Swan, what is so funny?" she asked, looking over at her darker self unaffected by the gentle shaking of the bed.

"She's snoring," Emma said then lost control of herself, holding up her phone, she added "And I recorded it! I'm gonna make it my ringtone!"

Regina snatched the phone away from the giggling blonde and promptly deleted the recording. "I do not snore, and if you ever accuse me of such a thing again, I swear your time left on this earth will be painful!"

Emma curbed her joy then busted out laughing when the Queen rolled over and let out an unflattering guttural breath.

"Hush up, you'll wake her and trust me when I say you do not want _her_ sleep disturbed. She can be murderous in the morning." Regina laid back down on the sliver of bed she occupied and tossed the Savior's phone on the nightstand for safekeeping.

Emma snuggled closer and said, "Yeah, I think I can handle your murderous side."

"You haven't seen murderous," the Mayor huffed and begrudgingly accepted the forced affection.

"What about that time you lifted Doc up by the ear during town hall because he said you looked like you swallowed a planet."

"I was six months pregnant, and it was a dream!" Regina shoved the Savior and defended, "And I didn't lift him by the ear, I magically lifted him and just held the ear for theatrical effect!"

Emma chuckled and kissed her neck and said, "You were beautiful." The blonde's palm came down and rested against the Mayor's flat abdomen.

Dread sunk within the brunette, and she said in a low tone, "I can't have children, Emma."

"I know." Emma sat up and kissed her on the shoulder and said, "That's not a deal-breaker for me."

Regina slid her hand over Emma's gentle grip of her hip and said, "I'm sorry that was the dream."

"I know. I'm sorry you had to make that choice alone."

Regina turned slightly in Emma's arms and said, "It wasn't a choice. It was a dream."

"You didn't know that."

"I knew I didn't want a life where I didn't have you," Regina admitted and settled back down in the loving embrace of the Savior's arms.

* * *

Emma came home with take-out breakfast fresh from Granny's as both Regina's made their way down to the kitchen. The Mayor started the coffee, and the Queen sat and waited to be served.

The Queen took the white styrofoam container from Emma and asked, "Did you get everything on my list, dear?"

"Everything except the apple marmalet, whatever the hell that is."

"Candied sugar," the Mayor said, dropping a mug of the Queen's tea down and inspected her place setting. "What the hell are you eating?"

"My last meal," the Queen cooed and opened the container that held a high stack of pancakes.

"You got pancakes?"

"And french toast," Emma supplied. "And eggs and bacon and crawlers." The Savior unpacked the Queen's lengthy list of things Regina consistently denied herself.

"What's the meaning of this?" Regina demanded as the Queen took a large bite of cake smothered in syrup.

"You never eat sweets, and if I'm going back to your restrictive diet, then I'm indulging while I can." She scooped a spoonful of chocolate pudding into her mouth and said, "And if you happen to retain these calories after we become one, so be it."

"Witch!"

Emma looked between the women and asked with confusion, "What do you mean restrictive diet? She is always making pastries and pies and crap."

The Queen swallowed her bite of doughnut and retorted, "And when have you ever seen her eat them?"

"I- of course she does!" Emma looked to Regina, who was staring down the Queen and if looks could kill the sovereign would be dead. "Tell her, babe."

Regina pointed at the Queen and said, "You are insufferable!"

The Queen looked up at Emma and explained, "She has a problem with her weight."

Emma chuckled and denied the outrageous accusations, "No, look at her! She's perfect!"

"She works at it relentlessly," the Queen said with a sigh. "She's hopelessly vain." She looked Regina up and down and said, "Not that she isn't worthy of self-love, but she does it for all the wrong reasons."

The irritation was written all over the Mayor's face when she hissed, "That is just about enough out of you."

"You see," the Queen said, ignoring the demand as she bit into her egg-dipped toast. "My mother was a bit of a-"

"Tyrant," Emma finished. "Yeah, I've met her, remember?" She pulled out another styrofoam container and handed it to Regina and said, "I got you an egg white spinach omelet, but since Queenie is being so forthcoming, I'm sure she'll share her pancakes with you."

When Emma went to grab the half-eaten pancake stack, a plastic fork jabbed at the back of her hand. "Ow!"

The Queen demanded, "Stop calling me that!"

"Stop being a witch for five seconds and share your crappy breakfast!" Emma rubbed the back of her hand and scowled down at the Queen.

"I don't want her stupid pancakes," Regina announced. "Not all of us can hide the love handles under a corset and flowing gowns, your Majesty." Regina took her breakfast and sat down at the head of the table and primly set herself a place.

"I do not have love handles," the Queen sneered then took a bite of buttery English muffin and said with a cackle, "But you will."

"I hate you with every breath of my being," Regina said in a low tone to which the Queen erupted in a fit of victorious laughter.

Emma rolled her eyes and grabbed her breakfast and sat down next to Regina and across from the Evil Queen and dug into her scrambled eggs.

After breakfast was complete, Regina brought up the topic of taking the antidote to her darker half. She'd held up her end of the bargain as it were, and felt as though they were running out of time. They still had no idea when and where Gideon would strike, so they needed to be ready when he did.

The Savior was in the kitchen cleaning up, and Regina took the opportunity to corner her darker self.

"So? Are we doing this or what?"

"Yes, yes, darling, I suppose I got what I wanted," the Queen said as she got up from the table.

Regina quickly stood and got into the darker woman's space and said, "I know you're not doing this solely because of our deal."

The Queen tilted her head back and forth with a smirk as she mockingly considered telling the truth or not. "Lies," she finally hissed with a large smirk.

"Yes, well, thank you anyway." The Mayor stepped closer to her darker self and added, "Thank you for standing up to Mother when I couldn't, and for getting us here." She dropped her gaze and admitted, "I may regret how we got here, but I am thankful we are."

Emma entered the dining room to catch the women in a healing embrace. She cleared her throat and asked, feeling a little awkward, "So now what?"

The Queen pulled back from the Mayor and quipped, "Well, a deal is a deal." She leaned in close to the Savior and cupped her mouth with the back of her hand and said, "Your little girlfriend sold you like a common whore."

"You are such an asshole!" Regina exclaimed as her cheeks turned red with embarrassment.

Emma smirked and pulled the darker version of her girlfriend up into her arms and said, "Now you know damn well I'm anything but common, your Majesty."

The move surprised the Queen, and she let out a nervous chuckle as her body responded to the Savior's possessiveness. When she recovered, she whispered, "Don't get yourself killed."

Emma leaned in and pushed a long dark strand of the woman's hair away from her face as she whispered back, "I love you, too."

The blonde held tight to the Queen who was trembling with fear at what was to come, when neon violet streaked rivers of magic shown under her pale skin, and she doubled over in pain. Emma looked up at the Mayor who was standing in horrified shock with a syringe sticking out of her forearm. Golden light emitted from within her a moment before she was pulled and slammed into the Queen's body, still standing in Emma's arms.

The brunette's hair was in the Mayor's signature style, but she was still wearing the silky black nightshirt the Evil Queen slept in the night prior. As soon as the two women became one, the magical glow settled down, and wide brown eyes looked at the Savior in stunned silence.

"Babe?"

Regina pulled away from the Savior and removed the empty syringe out of her arm, setting it on the table. Her trembling hands ran up over her medium length hair and down the smooth material of her satin shirt.

"I'm okay," Regina said, but was clearly shaken.

"Why don't you sit?" Emma suggested and quickly moved to pull out a chair for her. Regina straightened her spine and said in a firm tone, "_I said,_ I'm okay."

"Alright," Emma said with her palms up in surrender. "Can you be okay in a sitting position?"

Regina felt a wave of nausea and reluctantly took a seat in the offered chair. She sensed the Queen pressing against the inside of her skull as the rage settled within her. She swallowed back the lump in her throat and remembered she had to actively restrain the darkness inside of her. "I'm sorry, Emma. I didn't mean to snap at you."

The blonde's worried scowl melted into a soft smile and Regina wanted to slap it off of her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. After another moment, she said, "It's an adjustment."

"I'm sure it is," Emma replied.

Regina was uneasy and longed to feel normal for just a moment. She took another deep breath then got up from the table, leaning over the Savior, she kissed her. "Damn," she said then pulled away, plopping back in her chair.

"What was that for?"

"We still don't share true loves kiss," the Mayor said with disappointment. "I was hoping that once I was whole again, that we would."

"That was just a dream, Regina." She moved her chair closer to the brunette and reassured, "According to my mom, it's ridiculously rare."

Regina pounded on the table, "_She_ found true love! Why not me?"

"Woah," Emma cautioned, covering tight, angry fists with her hand.

"It isn't fair! Why did I have to be so happy? I long for it, Emma!"

"Babe, I want you. The real you. I don't need some magical true loves kiss crap to tell me who to love."

"I'm sorry," Regina said, shaking her head. "I'm really not jealous of your mother."

"I know you're not."

"I've forgiven her," Regina murmured absently. The memories of the friendship she built with her nemesis came rushing in where jealousy had just been. Suddenly it was like all she'd ever known was the weightless feeling of redemption. She sat back in her seat and conjured a fireball in her hand. The lavender tinted white flame startled her, and she doused it as soon as she could and said, "I shouldn't have light magic, Emma."

"You've had light magic for years."

"Yes, but I shouldn't. There is still so much rage inside of me; it doesn't follow the laws of magic."

"I don't know what to tell you. Maybe you've been without her so long, it just feels like an overdose of darkness, when in reality it isn't that bad?"

"Why did I listen to Robin about splitting myself? Queenie asked me if it felt logical and I have to admit, it genuinely doesn't, Emma."

"I don't know why you didn't listen to me, babe."

Regina shook her head and admitted quietly, "I trusted him because of a lion tattoo."

"A what?"

"In the Enchanted Forest, I used fairy magic to find my destiny, and Tinkerbelle said my destiny was with the person with a lion tattoo."

"I have a lyon tattoo," Emma said, turning over her wrist to show the Mayor the little flower. She shrugged her shoulders and said, "It's a lyon flower tattoo, but still. As far as using fairy dust to find your soulmate goes, I think it's close enough, don't you?"

Regina touched the delicate flower's outline with the tips of her fingers and said in a dreamy voice, "You have a lyon tattoo." She looked up at Emma, unable to recall and asked, "Did you have this in the dream?"

"I want to say yes because I got it as a teenager, but some parts of the dream are still fuzzy where other parts are crystal clear."

"Me too," Regina said. "In the dream, I had moments where I couldn't remember something, then all of a sudden I did." She pulled in a worried scowl and added, "That's happened here too."

"I think we're both just under a lot of stress right now," Emma said. "I can't let that dream distract us from the final battle." She took the Queen's hand in hers and said, "I need to find a way to defeat Gideon. In my vision he kills me, and I'm not-"

Regina pushed aside the possibility of what could be going on, to face the reality of what was going on, and felt the emptiness she experienced when Emma died in the dream. "I can't lose you again, Emma. That isn't an option."

"I know, babe." Emma leaned into Regina and hugged her. "We'll figure something out."

Unbeknownst to the couple, their son Henry was standing in the next room and overheard their conversation about Emma's death. When he'd asked his birth mother the night before what the visions were of, she refused to tell him, and this was why. She was going to die. The dream was a premonition of what the Savior's fate would be. He couldn't let that happen again. Not this time. Not when he had the power to stop it.


	21. Chapter 21

Henry snuck out of the house as quietly as he'd come in and hopped on his bike and rode down the street to his adoptive mother's empty mansion. He raced up to his bedroom and took out the Author's pen and looked around the room for something to write on. He took out a blank storybook and held the pen over the page and asked, "Can Gideon be defeated?"

The pen in his hand began moving on its own and wrote out the words, "The darkness shall win the final battle." Henry shook his head at the vague response and asked, "How can I defeat Gideon?"

Again, the pen moved, and the words were written, "The darkness shall win the final battle."

Henry sighed in his frustration and focused as hard as he could when he asked, "Is there a weapon that can kill the darkness?"

The pen in his hand started sketching out the dark one's blade, and before it was finished, Henry knew what he needed to do. To hell with the rules of the Author; the fate of his family was at stake.

"Where is the Dark One's dagger?" A scene sketched itself out of a cave out near where he has spent many summer afternoons with his classmates near the old quarry. All he needed to do is go get it.

He packed up some supplies and hopped back on his bike and rode out to the popular swimming hole. He assumed that Mr. Gold wouldn't have a clue as to the comings and goings of the teenagers in town and the man probably figured it was far enough out that no one would go poking around. The perfect hiding place.

He dumped his bike down at the entrance of the cave and pulled his backpack off and took out the police issued Maglight he'd taken from his mother's garage and carefully crept into the small opening of the cave. If he hadn't been so familiar with the area, the entrance would have been virtually impossible to find, and he was grateful for his friends for finding the hangout spot.

The small corridor opened up to a sizable room, and the white beam of his flashlight darted from one side of the cave to the other. In the corner, he found a stand carved from a large stalagmite. On top of it was an amber viscous bubble with the Dark One's Dagger suspended within. He peered around either side of the pillar, and when he couldn't see any danger, he reached out his hand and touched the outside of the bubble. His fingers grew warm at the touch, and soon they passed the membrane, and he was able to grab hold of the blade's grip, drawing it easily from the protective covering.

A few loose pebbles rolled from their original position at the cave's mouth, having been disturbed when he had first come in, but other than that, the place was deathly quiet. He could hear his rapid breath as he waited in anticipation, expecting some maleficent demon to appear or a magical trap to spring. After a few moments standing at the ready, nothing further happened, so he shrugged his shoulders and slid the tip of the blade into the inside breast pocket of his jacket and lit the way toward the exit.

As he reached the cave mouth, a black cloud materialized, and Rumplestiltskin himself stepped out of it. His look was confused when he asked, "Henry? What are you doing here?"

"I need your dagger, grandpa." Henry had a strange relationship with his paternal grandfather. He understood that the darkness within the man was to blame for the havoc and harm he caused to the people Henry loved, but he also felt the human inside cared for him. In the years since his biological father passed away, he'd spent time with the older man and felt as though he no longer viewed Henry as the Savior's son, but as Neal's son too. A part of his boy was still alive in this world, and the man within the beast was grateful for the opportunity to know him.

Unfortunately for Henry, this newfound sense of familial bond was limited to when Rumple wasn't increasing his power. The Dark One held love for nothing above power, not family, nor loved ones, the darkness held him, absolute.

"You cannot want to control me, Henry, do you?"

"No," the boy shook his head, then added, "but I will if you force me to."

"What is it that you want?"

"I have to stop your son from killing my mom. Whatever it takes."

"Henry, wait, we can work this out. He wasn't born evil-"

"I know evil isn't born, it's made. But he's still a threat to my mom and the town." Henry pulled the dagger from his coat pocket and stood tall and said, "I'm a hero, grandpa, just like my father."

A lost look passed over the brown eyes of the older man, and he warned with genuine fear in his voice, "He'll kill you, boy."

Henry shook his head and said with confidence, "The darkness will not win."

"The light plays by the rules, Henry. The darkness will triumph as it always does."

Henry held up the dagger and commanded, "Take me to my uncle."

* * *

They materialized in the middle of the pawnshop and Henry was disoriented for a moment before he gathered his bearings. The older man grabbed his shoulder and pushed him behind him when he heard a deep growl hiss, "What do we have here, father?"

"This boy knows not what he does. His mother sheltered him from power such as yours, son."

Henry stepped out from behind his grandfather, holding the dagger up to be seen, but not yet threatening. "I'm here to tell you, whatever plans you have, stops today. We don't have to fight, but I'm not allowing you to murder my mother."

"You're the Savior's son?" The dark man cocked his head sideways at the Dark One and asked, "This is your grandson?"

"Son, please. Have mercy."

"No father, this is perfect, don't you see? She was right. I'll never live up to your precious Bae!" The younger man walked closer to the pair, speaking aloud his thoughts, "I think I'm glad you were a bumbling failure as a father and lost me to grandmama. I can't imagine what nonsense you and mother would have tried to drill into my impressionable head."

"Gideon?" The voice of Belle distracted Henry for a moment, and a split second later he was flying through the air into the nearest glass showcase. At first, he was stunned and heard a ringing in his ears which faded out into shouting and the thunderous clapping of magic as it crashed against one another. Henry looked down at the large shard of glass that towered from his abdomen and knew he was in serious trouble. He tried to take a breath but instead sputtered blood from his mouth all over himself. He reached his arm to grab the dagger only to find he was unable to move his upper body and the blade was just out of his reach.

He watched helplessly as Belle picked up the dagger, held it up to her beloved and said, "Don't hurt my son!"

Gideon watched in amazement as Rumplestiltskin let down his guard, and with a victorious smile, he capitalized on the reprieve and sent the man flying to the other side of the room. He looked down on the mousey headed woman standing her ground against him. "Just because I said I couldn't hurt you, mother, does not mean I'll allow you to threaten me!"

"Please Gideon, you're my son. You're good. I know you can be good."

The young man stepped closer to the shaking blade and said, "No." He ripped the grip of the dagger from his mother's weak hand and shouted, "I'm _his_ son!"

He held up his prize and looked down on his dead brother's dying son and said, "You're a real hero, boy. I've been looking for this! You just assured my success!"

Henry's eyes grew wide as he gasped his last breath, knowing that he alone had doomed his family to certain death.

* * *

Emma spent the rest of her morning going over the details she knew of Gideon's end game, which wasn't much. There was a gate he needed a key to unlock, and according to the Evil Queen, Belle and Gold were helping him. Regina seemed to need time to readjust to life as one person, and by the way she was snapping at Emma, she desired to adjust alone.

Emma took the opportunity of her solitude to go poke around Gold's shop. When she arrived, she noticed the large storefront window was smashed, and glass littered the sidewalk. She withdrew her sidearm and let it lead her as she cautiously entered the pawnshop.

The normally tidy, albeit cluttered, store was in complete disarray as if a whirlwind had hit it. As she stepped over broken wooden panels and glass, her eyes caught sight of a very still sneaker. _An extremely familiar sneaker._ A sneaker that shouldn't be in the middle of the Dark One's pawn shop.

A voice within her screamed for her to stop as she rounded the glass case to look at the owner of those shoes. The large bloodied shard came into view long before the blank stare of her lifeless child, and she gasped at the gruesome sight. If the fact that he was split nearly in two hadn't been enough evidence that he was dead, the pool of blood under him was clear. He was gone and had been for some time. She turned away, not bearing the sight of her son in such a state and came face to face with Belle.

The woman was clearly flustered and carrying an old book and a handful of plant matter. Her hair was disheveled, and she looked genuinely surprised to find Emma standing, pointing a gun at her. "Where's Gold?"

"He's guh-gone."

"Gone _where_?"

"Gideon has the dagger."

"Which one of you… hurt… Henry?"

"It was an accident! Everything would have been fine if he hadn't brought the dagger here!"

"DID HE KILL MY SON?!"

"He didn't mean to," the brunette cried then held up the book she had. "I'm going to fix it. I found a spell that can trap his spirit to his body. I can make it better!"

"Are you out of your mind?" Emma spat, "I'm not letting you turn my kid into a fucking zombie!" She choked on a sob and held the gun steady and asked, "Where is he?"

"I don't know!" Belle exclaimed.

Dark blonde eyebrows pull down in her anger, and she grits out, "Tell me, or I'll drop you."

Belle held her hand up and exclaimed, "He wouldn't tell me! He's angry I sent him away! He wouldn't tell me details!"

Emma rolled her eyes and asked, "What did he tell you?"

"Only that the Dark Fairy required a sacrifice of her own blood to be released!"

"There's a _dark_ fairy?"

"THE Dark Fairy. Rumple's _mother_. She's touched the source of darkness and is evil incarnate."

"Of course she is." Emma shook her head and tried to focus on the threat to everything when watery brown eyes came into her mind's eye. How was she going to tell her the kid was dead. She tucked away her grief as it tried to bubble to the surface and held the gun steady and said, "Get out of here. I don't care where you go, but when Regina finds out about this, she is going to want to murder someone and right now, I'm not sure I'll try to stop her. So go."

Belle's clear blue eyes grew wide at the implication when she set down the book and supplies before heading out the door.

With her back to the macabre scene, Emma dialed her father. After breaking the news to her parents, she swore them to secrecy and asked them to wait twenty minutes before they called an ambulance, giving her plenty of time to arrive at the mansion and inform Regina. Telling the Queen was going to be awful, but it would be better if it came from Emma.

_They were his parents. They could grieve together._

She reluctantly approached her son's body and knelt next to it. With a shaky hand, she slid his eyelids closed and swallowed down the grief that was lodged in her throat and said, "I'm sorry, Henry." Her lower lip trembled, and she blinked away the tears that started to pool around the lids of her eyes. She felt lost and not an ounce of the savior the boy had always insisted she was.

_What kind of savior can't protect her own son?_


	22. Chapter 22

Emma arrived at the Mayor's home in record time, and as she stood outside, she forced herself to knock. After a few moments, Regina opened the door and instantly apologized. "I'm so sorry about this morning. I wasn't feeling myself or closer to the truth, I was feeling more myself and-"

"Regina," Emma said in a grave tone, stopping her.

"I said, I'm sorry, Emma, what more do you-"

"Henry's…" Sorrowful green eyes looked up into confusion, and she finished, "Gone."

"What?" The brunette straightened her stance and folded her arms around herself and demanded, "Gone where?"

"He..." Emma broke eye contact and shook her head and said, "There was a confrontation at the pawnshop, and Henry was in the middle of it." Tears fell from mossy green eyes when she said, "I'm sorry, Regina."

"What?" Long black eyelashes flicked more than what was natural waiting for Emma to repeat the words she never thought she'd ever utter.

"WHAT?"

Emma opened her mouth to repeat herself, and the white door slammed in her face.

The Queen spun around and thumped her back against the wooden door. Sliding to the floor, her eyes wide in shock, her hand covering her gaping silent scream. She'd been worried for the Savior's life; the idea of losing her son hadn't been something she considered. Scenarios crossed her mind on how her boy met his end and the grief within her boiled up and out.

The blonde on the other side of the door began banging against it with her fist, shouting her name and to get away from the devastation she felt in the presence of the Savior, she transported herself to Henry's room.

She laid down on his bed and pressed her face into his pillow and felt the full force of her sorrow. Visions of her young son went through her mind. His first steps. His first words. The pride on his face when he brought home artwork from school. Even when he grew up and started to question the validity of their existence, she loved him. Every moment she was his mother, she loved him. She remembered sharing Henry's 11th birthday party with the likes of Emma Swan. Even though she'd been angry that the woman had intruded on what had always been something between Henry and herself, in the face of his joy, that discomfort disappeared. She recalled in crystal clarity the way his little face looked on that day and she tried to remember birthdays she's shared with the blonde since then, _since they've become friends,_ but found it challenging. The difficulty remembering details of the festivities alarmed her.

Sitting up on the bed, she looked around at teenaged Henry's belongings that were strewn around her little boy's bedroom. He had books that were borrowed from her vault, and some she recognized as Rumplestiltskin's. There were empty storybooks and polaroids of his friends and family. Comics and game consoles stacked up around his computer desk and it was everything she knew him to be, but there was still this nagging feeling in the back of her mind that couldn't make sense of him. Not his life. Not the way it was.

She looked at the author's pen that laid across the desk and could no longer feel the warmth of the magic within it. He'd been the hero, the way he always imagined himself to be. He was independent and confident in ways he never was as a small child. Sure he was audacious, but he was a shy boy. As a teen, Henry really grew into his own.

_The way he's always wanted to be._

Regina remembered Emma saying in their dream how she was afraid it wasn't real because it was everything she wanted and as the words echoed in her mind, she jumped up out of Henry's bed.

_This wasn't real. This was the elixir that caused their dream. They were still dreaming!_

She rushed out of the room and down the stairs toward the front door. Ripping it open, she stopped dead when she found the Savior curled into a ball, leaning against a pillar.

"Emma?"

"I'm sorry, Regina!" The blonde cried, "It was supposed to be me! My vision said it was me, not him!"

"Emma, darling, he isn't dead."

"Great," Emma said and started to cry harder. "I've killed our son, and you've lost your mind!"

"I haven't lost my mind," Regina said, holding out a hand for the blonde to take. When she was on her feet, Regina asked, "Do you remember Henry's 13th birthday party?"

"Yeah, of course I do," Emma said as she wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"Where did we have it?"

"What?"

"Where did we hold his 13th birthday party?" She folded her arms across her chest and patiently waited for Emma to respond.

Dark brows pulled down in concentration, and her blonde head shook as she tried to remember before she asked, "Why are you asking me this? He's dead, Regina. What does a party venue matter now?"

"I can't remember either," the Mayor said and cupped the Savior's cheek. "I think we're dreaming."

Emma jerked away and exclaimed, "We aren't dreaming!"

Regina gave the blonde some space then asked with cold pragmatism, "Where did we have Henry's eleventh party?"

"Your house and you were a total bitch to me all day!"

"And his twelfth?"

Emma closed her eyes and shook her head and said, "At Granny's?"

Dark eyebrows lifted knowingly when she asked, "Are you guessing?"

Emma threw her arms up in the air and barked, "We have every celebration at Granny's! Of _course_ I'm guessing!"

"I remember his eleventh, but nothing after. He's sixteen, Emma. We should remember his parties. I remember his tenth, his ninth all the way back to his first."

Emma got defensive and snapped, "Well, I wasn't here for _those_!"

"That isn't my _point_." Regina took a chance, taking the blonde's hand and said, "You _should_ remember the ones you were here for Emma, and the fact that neither of us can recall leads me to believe there is something very strange happening." She tugged the skeptical woman toward the house and said, "Come on, let me show you something."

She led the Savior into the kitchen and handed her the picture of the vial she drew and said, "This was in my vision. It was my mother's. Strong magic. An elixir that uses mind trickery to expose buried desires."

Emma looked at the shaded picture, then back up at the Mayor and asked, "And?"

"And in my vision, Henry was no older than eleven."

"So, what are you saying? That this is like the dream we had?"

"I think this entire thing is the dream, and this," she held up the picture and continued, "is what's caused it."

"I thought you said it was magic that brought out desires. Neither of us wants Henry dead! This entire thing has been a complete and utter shit show!"

"For _us_ perhaps, but for _Henry_?" She set the paper down and leaned against the center island and explained, "What has he always wanted?"

"To be a hero."

"What is he here?"

"The Author," Emma answered and started to pace as she thought about what Regina was telling her. Everything she knew about her son began to shine within their current reality, and she started to believe the older woman. "Okay, but what about you?"

"What about me, what?"

"Was the pregnancy dream your desire too?"

"I suppose," Regina said and broke the gaze of the Savior before adding, "The elixir was only intended for two people. I believe it pulled desires from you and Henry, which were the main focus."

Emma's face crumpled when she asked, "You didn't want to be married to me?"

"Darling, I didn't say that. I said that the magic was intended for two. This is a chaotic mess; clearly, it's malfunctioning."

Emma could hear the sincerity in the brunette's voice and pushed aside her personal heartbreak and asked, "Okay, so how do we wake up?"

Regina took a deep breath and said, "Well, in the dream, the other dream, Henry and I drove off the troll bridge."

"You _what_?"

"I was distraught!" She shook her head and added, "And _hormonal_!"

"I know, but I didn't think you'd be so dramatic! I figured you crushed your hearts or something!" Regina shrugged off the accusation, and Emma asked, "So you're suggesting we… die… _here_… and we'll wake up somewhere else?"

"Precisely."

"What happens if this isn't a dream, and we kill ourselves?"

"Then we die, Miss Swan. Don't be stupid."

"Right," Emma said and shrugged off the belittlement. She swallowed thickly and slowly took out her gun with a shaky hand laying it on the counter and said, "So like murder-suicide, yeah?"

Regina looked down at the piece in disgust and said, "You know I detest guns, Sheriff."

Emma's chin started to tremble when she admitted, "I don't think I can kill you, baby."

The brunette held her arms out, and Emma crashed into them, feeling much better within the warm embrace. "Between the two of us, Emma, I'm the murderer, it's only fitting that I kill you and then take my own life."

"You're not a murderer, Regina. Not _just_ a murderer. The good you do makes a difference."

"If none of this is real, then a murderer is _all_ I am, Miss Swan."

Emma pulled herself away from the Queen's warm embrace and exclaimed, "I refuse to believe that! You've worked so hard to-"

Regina shook her head and interrupted, "I'm not the woman you think I am. Think back to Henry's eleventh birthday party. _That_ is who I am to you."

"How is this happening? Like who would do this?"

"I believe it was an accident." Regina closed her eyes and focused on every breath the Savior took. Every move she made. How her hair smelled of Vanilla with the spicy scent of leather mixed in. She moved her hands over the strong shoulders of the woman and savored their feel. After a moment, she pulled herself together and pulled back from the blonde, looking her in the eye and said, "Are we doing this?"

"Can I… I mean, I need to call my mom, just in case this isn't, you know, whatever."

"A dream?"

"Yeah," Emma said and pulled away from the brunette and took her cell phone out. Regina went to the refrigerator and took out a bottle of iced tea. Pouring them each a glass, she materialized a small vial filled with a dark purple liquid. She gave the bottom a swirl then poured its contents into one of the two glasses then magicked away the evidence.

She picked up the glasses and handed one to Emma, who was finishing up her call and took a large gulp of her own.

Emma took the glass and stumbled out, "Mom's handling Henry's, uh, body, you know."

"I have to admit that your mother in this world isn't as annoying as I recall her being in our youth."

"You like my mom," Emma said with a small smile and took another drink of her tea.

"_Like_ is probably overselling it," Regina drawled.

Emma put down her glass and stepped into Regina's personal space and said, "Honestly, I love you."

"I know you feel that way, dear, but with this magic being as unstable as it is, I don't think you can trust how you feel here."

"I know this is real," Emma said just above a whisper then leaned in and kissed her. Soft pink lips found no resistance as Regina savored the loving exploration. Before she could waver and succumb to the love of the Savior, she plunged her hand deep into Emma's chest, gripped hold of her twitching muscle and pulled it from its home.

With a gasp, Emma broke their embrace and staggered back and marveled at the glowing red organ in the Mayor's hand. Regina felt the tears fall over the apples of her cheeks and began to squeeze the magic-saturated heart. Emma winced and doubled over in pain, and in instinct, Regina released the organ, stopping the agony within her lover.

"What about you?" Emma panted as she recovered from the pain.

"I've already consumed the lethal dose of magic-infused Belladonna that will end my life."

Emma let out a sob and looked at her through blurry tears and cried, "Babe?"

Regina nodded and said, "Henry will probably be afraid. He won't understand what's happened. It'll be okay, Emma. I'll be there soon." Even though she knew this would be far less painful than the poison she ingested, she looked down at her fist, clutching the Savior's life and couldn't squeeze it. She shook her head and sniffed back her resolve and tried again. When she failed a second time, Emma covered her hand with both of her palms and said, "I love you."

Emma squeezed hard, forcing her hand to close in on the glowing muscle and once she was passed the point of no return, Regina viced her fist together, turning the pink organ into dust. As the ash leaked from her hand, Emma collapsed to the floor, dead.

She dropped to her knees and cradled the Savior to her chest and let out an agonizing wail. In this experience, she's lost everything, twice. Her children, her family, her love, all taken from her one way or another. As she grew dizzy from the poison, she couldn't help but think this was karmic justice from beyond the grave. One final fitting punishment from her mother.

Her eyelids started to close, and between longer and longer blinks, she could see the black veins of magic as they raced under her skin. Soon the pain consumed her and she was too weak to remain upright. Laying over the blonde's dead body, she collapsed into the darkness.

_Into nothing._


	23. Chapter 23

She could hear faint crying as the shrill ringing in her ears pulled away and quieted. It was her son. "What if she doesn't wake up, Emma?"

"She should, kid." The clipped tone of the Savior stirred her, and she tried to open her eyes. She felt heavy under her own weight and found it difficult to move.

"She's awake!" Henry's little boy voice declared.

She managed to sit up and pull herself up into a standing position before Henry launched himself away from his birth mother into her arms. "Mom!" He started to cry as his little arms wrapped themselves around her. "Mom, I'm so sorry!"

Regina held him to her and ran her fingers into his soft brown hair and breathed him in. He was alive. After a moment, she looked up at the harsh angular features of the Savior and felt reality settle over her.

She felt conflicted about how she wanted to react to the seemingly angry woman. A part of her wanted to rush her and hug her and thank higher powers that she had been right and that her family was safe. Another part of her knew that none of those feelings were real, and by the look on Emma's face, she was livid.

She pulled back from Henry and said, "Why were you down here? This place is dangerous, darling."

"Maybe if someone had this place secured, he wouldn't have gotten down here to begin with!"

Recollection swept over the Queen, and she pulled her features in with contempt and shot back, "I had it secured, but a certain Sheriff I know kicked the door in!"

"I didn't know you had some secret lair under your dead father full of curses and shit!"

"So that makes desecration of my personal property okay?"

"Maybe if you didn't have all of this crap, he wouldn't have gotten into it! What the hell kind of mother are you?"

"Me? You were supposed to be watching him, and this is somehow my fault? You are evolutionary proof that nature wins out over nurture, because just like your mother, nothing is ever your fault!"

Emma stepped closer and grabbed Henry's arm before shouting, "That must be true because my son didn't turn out to be an evil murdering sociopath!"

"Go to hell!" Regina spat as she encompassed herself in magic and disappeared.

Henry pulled away from Emma, tears in his eyes as he shoved her, shouting, "This is just as much your fault as it is hers!"

"Me? What did I do?"

"Why do you _always_ have to antagonize her?!" He exclaimed, running out of the vault.

Henry found his bike hidden where he left it under a nearby bush and took off toward his childhood home. He saw the sadness in his adoptive mother's eyes and remembered how broken she was after Emma was murdered and knew she shouldn't be alone right now.

He dumped his bike in the front yard and ran up to the large white door of the mansion and went inside. The stilled silence was just a reminder that the house was still the sanitized, orderly place from his youth and not the lived-in home it had been when Emma lived with them.

He ran up the stairs, knowing if his adoptive mother had a mind to, she would yell at him for running in the house. She always said, "You could fall and hurt yourself, Henry." She wasn't annoyed by the noise or put off by it; she loved him. She didn't want him harmed. She loved him in all of the ways he could remember her loving him in his dreams. She was far more closed off than she had been married to his birth mother or as being the hero of Storybrooke, but she felt the same for him. She always has.

He pushed open his mother's bedroom door and found her exactly where he knew she would be; curled up in the center of her large bed, crying into her pillow. She looked so small that he almost didn't want to disturb her. He climbed up onto the bed and snuggled into her.

She pulled back her tears, wrapped herself around him, and asked, "I'm sorry, Henry. Are you alright, my Prince?"

Henry nodded his head against her.

"Would you like to talk about it? With me?" She sighed before adding, "Or _Emma_?"

"I don't remember the dying part," he blurted out. "It didn't really hurt either time either. Do you think that's what dying for real feels like?"

"I certainly hope so, darling." She ran her fingers through his hair and asked, "What were you doing at Mr. Gold's shop?"

"I couldn't lose Emma again." He snuggled closer to her and added, "_We_ couldn't lose her again."

She pulled back from him and looked him in the eye and said, "We can't lose _you_. Please don't rush off on your own like that. I know I haven't always listened to you in the past, but I promise you will be heard from here on out." She pulled him back to her and said, "Just promise me we'll do this _together_."

"I'm sorry, mom." His arms wrapped around her. "I'm sorry about everything."

"Accidents happen, Henry." She kissed him and added, "No one got hurt this time, but magic is nothing to play around with."

"I know, I'm sorry. I just wanted to find a way for you two to stop fighting all the time."

She caressed his back and explained, "Emma is good. I'm not… good. It's practically natural law that we are going to butt heads, darling. We may never get along."

"You got along, mom. You were _married_. You were _friends_! The dreams proved you could at least not hate each other!"

She felt her heart break as she remembered the angry features of the blonde in the vault versus the way the Sheriff looked at her when she told her she loved her. "None of that was real, Henry. It was magic."

"It was still us, though, right? It was still her and you and me as a _family_, don't you want that?"

She swallowed the yes that was trying to claw its way out of her throat and said, "Even if I did, she would never want that with me."

"She wanted it. She wanted it so bad she tried to make us a family in the second dream. That was all her."

"The spell was unstable, darling."

"All of it?"

"No, not all of it, I suppose, but it was warped. It should have shown our true feelings of what we wanted."

"It showed _my_ true feelings, but it's starting to get hard to remember everything that happened."

She kissed his forehead and said, "Hopefully, it will go away soon for us all." Regina contemplated the nature of the magic they'd fallen victim to and felt a cold pit of emptiness where Emma Swan should be in her heart. She could vividly recall the blonde's laugh and how silly she would act to get Regina to join in on her merriment. She could remember so many things about her and missed her with a profound ache inside. She didn't want to forget what it felt like to feel loved by the Savior.

"Do… do you really think that is what she wants? A family? With _me_?" She couldn't help but fear that her participation in their shared delusion had simply been a construct of the magic going wrong. That she wasn't a part of the Savior's secret desires at all and was only integrated as a mistake.

"I remember her loving _us_, mom."

She remembered the heartfelt pour of emotions when they broke the first dream. How Emma had pleaded with her not to let go of their love simply because it was a dream. She decided she needed to speak with Emma, her pride and anger aside.

"We could go talk to her," Regina said absently.

Henry nodded his head, but added, "Don't be mean, that always starts a fight."

"I don't _always_ start our fights, Henry!"

"I didn't say that. I said that when you're mean, fights happen."

Regina rolled her eyes because she knew her eleven-year-old was right and then said, "I'll try really hard _not_ to be mean to her."

Regina got up and took a shower and dressed in a semi-casual pair of silk dress pants, a red blouse, and a matching blazer. Awkwardly, she dealt with her much shorter hair as she put herself together, then finished off with flawless makeup and stood in the mirror and looked at her reflection.

The desperate look on the Savior's face as she poured out her heart came to her mind, and she closed her eyes and waited for the pain across her chest to settle down. Once it had, she stood upright and viewed the finished product. She looked like the imposing mayor of Storybooke Emma met when she first arrived in town.

She removed the dress pants and blazer, and instead, slid into black denim jeans. It was better — less of her armor.

_The easier it will be to get hurt._

She felt the tears prick the backs of her eyes as her fear of rejection welled up from deep within, and she took a deep breath and decided this was her chance to finally get what she wanted. If she didn't try, she knew the outcome. _Failure._

Perhaps the blonde didn't love her, or want her, but she knew she had the capacity to want and love Emma. Maybe it had been her dream, after all.

Outside the door of Mary Margaret's loft, Regina stood hand in hand with her son. She felt a tightness in her chest caused by her fear and would prefer to forget the entire thing and return to the solitude of her home.

"You look nice," Henry whispered, seemingly sensing his mother's unease.

She looked down at her son and the mere act of having to do so felt strange. As if she'd gotten used to his teenaged height and looking down on him as a child was odd. "Thank you, darling."

"Do you want me to knock?"

"No, dear, I'm just-" She was uncertain as to how to put her apprehension into words, and Henry finished for her, "Nervous?"

"She wasn't pleased the last I saw her."

He squeezed her hand and said, "She was freaked out."

"I can't say that I blame her. She isn't accustomed to magic or the havoc it can sometimes bring." She stood in contemplation for a moment longer, and Henry asked, "Soooo, do you want me to knock?"

She shot him a look and gathered up her courage and lightly rapped on the wooden door of Miss Blanchard's apartment. After a moment, David answered, seemingly shocked to find Mayor Mills and his grandson standing with anticipation.

With a worried look, he asked, "Is everything alright?"

"I would like to speak to Miss Swan," Regina said, settling back into familiar territory with more of an icy tone. Henry let go of her hand and crashed into the blond man with a big bear hug and Regina noticed that the move didn't feel like the betrayal it once would have.

"Emma isn't here," David said and embraced the boy wrapped around him.

"Will she be returning soon?" Regina asked, put off that the Savior wasn't where she expected her to be.

"Honestly I have no idea. She said she was going to Boston to visit friends."

"Friends?" Regina asked, shocked. "What friends?" Emma not being home when she expected her to be was one thing, Emma leaving town for an undetermined amount of time was something completely different. Of course, Emma Swan would make things as difficult as humanly possible. The woman was infuriating!

"I don't know, Regina," the man said as Henry let go of him and confidently entered the small apartment.

David could see the distress across the Queen's face as her son wandered deeper into his home and asked, "Would you like to come in?"

She could see just beyond the tall, muscular man, a small figure lying in bed. The short tuft of black hair stuck out from under the covers was clearly that of her former step-daughter.

She considered her time in both dreamscapes and realized a glaring truth. In both dreams, the thing that was uniquely her had been peace between herself and the Princess. Forgiveness between the women had been the center stone of her happiness. Becoming a hero, marrying the Savior. It all stemmed from a place of redemption and peace. Perhaps, like Emma, who longed for a family and Henry who longed to be a hero, her truest desires had played out in the dreams as well. Her longing for acceptance suddenly felt overwhelming. She thickly swallowed, then asked in a thin voice, "May I speak to Snow?"

David looked back toward his wife, then hesitantly said, "I don't think she is up for visitors."

Regina clasped her hands in front of her and said in a soft tone, "I'd like to help, Charming."

Unmasked surprise crossed the man's fair features, and he repeated, "Help? Who?"

"Your _wife_, you idiot!"

Henry, who had made himself at home, pouring a bowl of cereal, called from his seat in the kitchen, "Mom, don't be mean."

She leaned around David and called, "I'm not being mean, your grandfather is being obstinate."

Henry shot the blond man a look and said, "Grandpa, she's trying to change."

"Yeah, I've heard that one before," David said under his breath then ushered the dark woman into his home.

Regina hesitantly approached the shrouded bed and saw the lost look in blank eyes staring into nothing. She remembered what it felt like to love the younger brunette, so she pushed through her apprehension and sat down on the edge of the bed.

When the woman didn't respond to her presence, she prodded, "Snow?"

Mossy green eyes looked up at her in anguish, "You." Snow swallowed thickly and asked, "Have you come to kill me?"

A small stunned smile graced the Queen's lips before she asked, "What?"

"We've been fighting for so long; so much death all around us. It has to stop." A pale hand reached to take Regina's, and Snow continued, "So, put an end to it. Now. Just kill me and get it over with."

"I do agree that this needs to come to an end, Princess, but I have no intention of killing you today."

"Please! You win! Whatever it is, Regina, you win."

"I-" Regina looked back toward her son who was happily chatting with his grandfather in the kitchen then said in a low tone, "I'm here to ask you for forgiveness, Snow, and to bestow forgiveness onto you." She tentatively placed a free hand overtop of the one Snow held her with and added, "With the death of my mother, things from our youth have become more clear to me, and I accept that you may never forgive me for the things I've done, but I forgive you for your part in Daniel's death and for killing Cora."

"Why are you doing this now? After everything we've been through?"

"Your daughter," Regina answered with a tight smile. "She's stolen my heart."

"Are you going to kill her?" Snow asked, confused.

"No," Regina said with a gentle smile. "I may ask for her hand in marriage, however."

Snow closed her eyes and pulled away from the Queen and murmured, "This must be a dream!"

A soft chuckle escaped the older brunette when she said, "No, this is definitely not a dream. Trust me." When Snow did not stir, Regina added, "I need you to get up out of this bed and take care of my son while I go to Boston. Do you think you can do that, Princess?"

"Boston?"

"Yes, your daughter is hiding out there, and I intend on dragging her back home where she belongs."

Snow sat up against the headboard of her bed and asked, "Do you truly forgive me?"

"I do," the Queen answered.

"I don't know if I can forgive you for everything," Snow said softly. "But I can try to get past it."

"That's all I can ask for, dear," Regina said and felt the weight of her chip lift off of her shoulders and knew this was the beginning of her own personal happily ever after.


	24. Chapter 24

Regina returned to her home after explaining to Henry and David her plan to bring Emma back to Storybrooke and used her laptop and a quick and dirty magical spell to search google maps for Emma's location. She was leery at first because the site the spell produced was nowhere near the Boston Emma had informed her parents she was going, and the address was that of a seedy highway motel. Regina scrunched up her nose in disgust as she jotted down the directions then packed an overnight bag and headed out to go retrieve the Savior.

The motel was a two-hour drive from Storybrooke, and when she got there, it lived up to every offensive stereotype her imagination conjured. She quickly found the blonde's bug parked in front of door number 108 and parked her Mercedes Benz in the visitor parking area. After taking a moment to compose herself, then check her appearance in the rearview mirror, then took a deep breath and composed herself once again, she got out of her vehicle and marched up to the red door of Emma's room.

She lifted her hand to knock when uncertainty crept into her heart. What if Henry was wrong. He was just a little boy. Even as a sixteen-year-old, he still had the life experience of an eleven-year-old. Could he just have wanted peace in his family life and misconstrued the situation?

As her fear paralyzed her, her mind went into overdrive, thinking she was making a complete fool of herself. When suddenly, the paint splintered door opened and she came face to face with Emma Swan, standing in a pair of ill-fitting boxer shorts and a tank top with a pink carebear across the front.

A shocked look crossed the younger woman when she exhaled, "Regina?"

A soft smile greeted her, and the brunette said, "Hi."

"What are you doing here? I mean, how did you find me?"

Regina held up her hand and replied, "Magic?"

Emma rolled her eyes and said, "Of course."

"Are you alone?"

"Why?"

"Your father said you were visiting friends," Regina explained as she looked passed the blonde into the dark room behind her.

"That was a clever lie," Emma said then pushed her way passed the brunette and walked a short distance to a vending machine, Regina in tow.

She watched the blonde pop her change into the slot then waited for the item she chose to cycle its way through the machine and drop to the retrieval bin. She shook her head at the tension between them and asked, "Why did you lie?"

"I wanted to leave town, and they were being nosey," Emma said as she picked up her new bag of Doritos and then headed back toward her room. Regina followed her but stopped short at the threshold of the unit as Emma entered.

Leaving the door wide open, the blonde plopped down in front of the television on the sad little sofa that had seen better days. She grabbed the half-bottle of beer off the end table and took a long swig before she ripped open her Doritos and looked back at the Mayor hovering in the doorway. "Are you a vampire?"

"Excuse me?"

"Do you need an invitation before you enter someone's home?"

Regina rolled her eyes and came in, closing the hollow wooden door behind her. She set her purse down on the small table next to the large front window and said, "This is not your home."

"You're right. I don't have a home."

Regina crossed the small room and sat down next to Emma and said, "Storybrooke is your home."

The blonde didn't answer her and dug into her bag of processed corn paste, cheese-flavored powder, and preservatives. Regina looked at the mixed martial arts match the blonde was watching with intensity and sighed internally. After another agonizing moment, Regina decided to cut to the chase and asked, "Did you mean what you said in the first dream?"

Emma winced at a powerful drop as one of the fighters slammed the other one to the mat and ignored the question.

Irritated, Regina further explained, "When you said you thought it was just a dream because it was everything you wanted? Was it?"

Emma hissed before taking a swallow of her beer as one of the men's cheeks erupted with blood, then said, "What does it matter? It wasn't real."

Regina sat back, focusing her attention on the blatant avoidance and said, "The situation may not have been real, but the desires that fueled the magic should have been. Was it everything you wanted, as you said?"

Emma side-eyed her but remained silent, returning her attention back to the television.

"How much of the dreams do you remember? Henry said his were already starting to fade."

"Enough," Emma said gruffly, finishing off her beer before picking up another bottle from the case at her feet and opening it with a tight twist. "I'd offer you one, but I now know you don't like the taste of beer."

"I don't," Regina confirmed and considered how she could navigate this closed up version of the Savior. Within the dreams, she'd forgotten how difficult it was to talk to the blonde as Emma had been so open and honest with her in both of their life scenarios. Within that moment, she missed that version of the woman and wondered what she could do or say to gain her trust. She took a deep breath and decided to go straight to the heart of what was the worst part of the entire dream for her personally in hopes showing vulnerability to the blonde would break through her armor.

"Victoria," Regina said, almost choking on the word.

Emma lifted her beer to take another drink and asked, "What?"

"That was Duckie's name. Victoria."

The blonde hesitated before taking a long swallow, then said, "That was on my list."

"I know," Regina said. "Henry told me in the dream."

"Victoria Eva Mills," Emma said quietly. She switched the beer she held into her other hand and laid a comforting palm against the Queen's knee. Regina felt relief in the offered gesture and swallowed the tears she felt prick at the back of her eyes. She remembered the feel of the blonde's love and having her so close, but yet so far, broke her heart. She tentatively laid her hand over the Savior's and turned her arm over. She studied the tattoo on her wrist and said, "Things don't usually turn out the way we think they will, Miss Swan." She traced the outline of the black flower on Emma's wrist and said, "I was told my soulmate would have a lion tattoo and here you are, with a Lyon flower tattoo on your arm."

Emma swallowed hard and asked, "You think I'm your soulmate now?"

"I don't know," Regina replied quietly. They sat in silence for a few moments, the television forgotten and Regina was slowly running her fingertips over the Savior's wrist before she pulled up enough courage to add, "I'm willing to find out."

"So what your saying is, whatever magic Henry dosed us with made you crazy?"

Dark eyes flicked up to meet glassy green, and she replied, "What I'm saying is, I remember what it felt like to be married to you. I remember how happy I was. I'm not going to let something as trivial as it being a dream stop me from trying to attain that happiness." She took a deep breath and said, "I'm in love with you, right now, and I don't care about anything else."

Tears fell from Emma's eyes when she said, "It isn't going to be easy."

"I believe someone once told me, nothing worthwhile ever is," she replied with a small smile. Lacing their fingers together, she asked, "Will you come home with me?"

She saw the Savior's walls crumble under the weight of their moment, and she held up her arms for the younger woman to curl into snuggs and for the first time in a long time, she felt at home.

"Where's Henry?" Emma asked after calming herself in the warmth of the Mayor's embrace.

"I spoke with Snow, she agreed to care for him while I came to speak with you."

"Snow is in no condition to watch him, Regina."

"We spoke," the brunette replied.

"About?"

"I've forgiven her for her part in my mother's death, and I've asked for her forgiveness in return."

"Did… did she give it to you?"

"No," the Queen said. "But she accepted my forgiveness, so that's a start."

A surprised look crossed the Savior's features, and Regina said, "I desire peace and to be the woman capable of that peace. Will you come home with me?"

Brushing a short strand of black hair away from the Mayor's eyes, Emma asked, "Tomorrow?"

Regina nodded her head and leaned closer to Emma's lips before asking, "May I kiss you, Miss Swan?" When the blonde silently nodded her permission, Regina closed the gap between them and felt Emma's warm lips for the first time.

The kiss was slow and tentative and didn't feel the way their kisses felt in her memory, and Regina started to pull away, thinking that perhaps this wasn't what the blonde wanted after all. Emma cupped her cheek and said, "I don't want to try and recreate what we had."

Dark eyes lowered as all of her fears came crashing down on her. The pain of rejection broke her heart in two, and she swallowed back the heartache and nodded her understanding.

A soft thumb traced over the corner of her mouth before Emma said, "I want to experience falling in love with you, without comparing it to the dream."

"What if you don't fall in love with me? What if it was all just a cruel trick?"

Emma dragged her fingers down the side of Regina's face and said, "I loved you once; I _want_ to love you again."

Closing her eyes, Regina sighed in relief. "I want that too, Emma." Her eyes startled open when she felt the warmth of the Savior's lips against her own. This kiss wasn't hesitant. It wasn't tentative or awkward. It was forceful and full of feeling, and Regina felt her body react.

She moaned into the Savior's mouth, which spurred the blonde to pull her close. She felt hands take up purchase around her hips, and when they did not explore the way she wanted them to, she covered one bringing it up to her chest.

With a soft moan, the Savior took the hint as she wrapped her fingers around the swell of her breast. Regina felt the heat that small act produced and pushed the blonde back and climbed up onto her lap.

"Regina?" Emma asked as she broke the fevered liplock. Green eyes looked over her, and all she could see was the care and concern she's seen often in the Savior's eyes. "Tell me what you want."

"I want you," Regina replied, trailing her hands over Emma's shoulders and down her arms, guiding her hands back to where they were on her breasts. "Please."

She cringed as she heard the desperation in her own voice and tried to pretend she wasn't begging the Savior to touch her and leaned in to resume their kissing.

Emma reached up and grabbed her jaw, stopping her descent. She rubbed the line of her chin with her thumb, then looked at her lips and said, "Tell me."

Regina pushed passed the grip and got close to the Savior's ear and said, "How about I show you?" She jetted out her tongue, taking Emma's earlobe into her mouth and gently sucked. A moan escaped from the blonde and strong hands slid up her flank to draw her closer. Red lips trailed down a porcelain neck and teeth bit into the tender flesh she found. She felt the rumble under her exploratory kisses as the Savior let out a deep feral moan.

Growing bold in the face of Emma's desire, Regina slid her hands down over the blonde's chest as she worked her mouth up to wanting lips. She hovered, looking over the detail in her soon to be lover's face, before finally giving in and crashing into her.

She savored the taste of Emma Swan on her lips before pulling back and guiding her up off of the couch and led her to the bed. Once the Savior sat, she untucked her silk blouse and stripped off her black jeans. She climbed onto the bed and slowly crawled over to the Savior who was looking at her in amazement.

She bit her bottom lip as her dark eyes dropped to Emma's chest. She couldn't help herself as she found her hands pulling up the thin material of the tank top, exposing Emma's smooth skin. The Savior's muscles rippled under her touch as her fingers danced their way over rock hard abs. She lifted the material over the swell of Emma's pink-tipped breasts and remembered all of the ways the blonde enjoyed being touched and slid her fingers around the firm peaks with ease of practice. The Savior arched her back, pushing the swells of her breast into strong hands. Regina leaned down and hovered her lips over wanting pebbled flesh. She smirked when the blonde's breath hitched in anticipation then leaned in and took Emma into her mouth.

"Please, Regina!" Emma rutted her center against the Queen's leg and begged shamelessly as the Mayor's tongue created pure magic against her sensitive breasts.

"All in good time, my love," Regina hissed, then bit into kiss swollen flesh. She ran her hand down Emma's tight abdomen and slipped under her shorts. She was caught by surprise when she realized the blonde wasn't wearing any underwear and her fingers found soft curls instead of the expected cotton.

When she started to pull away, uncertain if the Savior was ready to be touched in such a way, Emma grabbed her wrist and pushed her back; forcing her fingers to part her swollen lips. She lost her breath as her fingers explored the depths of Emma's sex, slick with desire. The blonde was moaning unabashed, and Regina knew she was close to her edge, so she pulled her hand away and ripped down Emma's shorts and opened her knees to expose her pretty pink sex to the open air.

"I'm going to devour you, Savior."

Emma covered her eyes and exclaimed, "Jesus Christ, Regina, I'm going to die if you don't!"

Regina smiled wide, dropping her fingers down Emma's inner thigh, caressing her most intimate of places. She felt her mouth water as she licked her lips in anticipation, looking over the writhing blonde, fingertips danced up swollen lips. She slowly unbuttoned her top and pulled it off before reaching around her back to unsnap her bra. She nestled her hips between the Savior's thighs, pressing her newly exposed skin against Emma's and her abdomen tight against the blonde's mound. "Now that I'm all one person are you on the menu, Savior?"

Everything about the experience was both new and familiar, both at the same time. Regina looked up at the raw face of her lover's pleasure as she nodded her head and then ground her hips into the Savior's mound. The blonde arched her back, and strong hands gripped her, pulling her close. Regina took up Emma's chin and tentatively kissed her way up to the Savior's soft lips, and when she got to her goal, Emma welcomed the kiss with an open mouth.

She felt a rush pass over her body with the blonde's acceptance of her, as if it was more than merely the shared pleasure they sought from one another, it was a connection they had, an intimacy they shared, and she knew there was no realm she'd ever choose to be anything but the Savior's wife.


	25. Chapter 25

**Epilogue**

* * *

It was Henry Mills' twelfth birthday party, and with the help of Snow White, Regina pulled together a mixed gathering at Granny's. Almost all of Henry's school mates were in attendance alongside their parents and his extended family. Granny happily catered, creating a spread that would go on to become legendary as far as pre-teen birthdays go.

Regina was fussing over the cloth-covered table that held the mountain of brightly colored birthday presents for her son when Emma came up behind her and wrapped her arm around her waist. The Queen let out a surprised yelp that quickly turned into a good-natured laugh as Emma pulled her close and playfully kissed her cheek.

"How are you feeling my love?" Regina asked and covered her hand over the Savior's small baby bump. Although they'd shared true loves kiss, the magic hadn't restored Regina's womb's viability. Initially, she'd been devastated at the news, but Emma offered to carry their second child citing that they both wanted more children. Slowly the Savior convinced her that it would be a good idea, and they started trying shortly after their wedding.

Emma leaned in, pulling the Queen close and whispered, "I'm feeling horny."

Regina whispered back, "Shall I mount you in full view of the town _and_ your mother, dear?"

Emma laughed and said, "No, but I wouldn't turn down a quickie in the bathroom."

"Don't be absurd!" The Queen playfully pushed her away and added, "I don't know what kind of deviant you think you've married Mrs. Mills, but I am a _queen_ and a bit more refined."

Emma grabbed up her wife and nuzzled into her neck and gritted, "Oh, I know _exactly_ the kind of deviant I've married, Mrs. Mills."

Snow disturbed their playful flirting with a clipped clearing of her throat and said, "Emma, sweetheart, your father needs help carrying the cake in from the kitchen."

Regina had asked for Snow's forgiveness and eventually received it before the wedding. Their issues ran deep, but the mother within the former Princess saw how happy the Queen made her daughter, and slowly resigned to accepting the relationship. Once the wedding and plans for a second child happened, Snow started to genuinely forgive Regina for her past deeds, even if it were just within her own heart.

Emma looked back at her mother with a wide grin on her face and then said to Regina, "I'll accept a raincheck, babe."

Regina grabbed the blonde, pulling her close she whispered in a breathy voice, "Be good, my love. I'll make it worth your while."

A secure warmth settled within the Savior's stomach as a knowing smile replaced the giddy playfulness across her features. "I love you," she said then pecked a kiss on the older woman's cheek before running off to help David.

Snow eyed her new daughter in law and said, "Everyone seems to be having a lovely time."

Regina lightly chuckled, "For a party being thrown by the Evil Queen?"

"The dwarves have bets on when you'll start roasting the guests."

"I'll be disappointing them today, I'm afraid," Regina replied with a knowing smirk. The Princess was teasing her, and she felt the good-natured ribbing for what it was. The path to forgiveness had started, and it made her feel lighter.

Henry ran up to his mother and grandmother after seeing they'd been left alone with one another. He didn't entirely trust them not to argue, even though it happened far less often than it used to, it still occurred under the right conditions. He did not wish for the stress of the party to ignite old grudges. He pressed himself against his adoptive mother, accepting her one-armed embrace.

Regina kissed him and asked, "Are you enjoying your party, darling?"

Snow tousled his brown mop of hair before asking, "Where's your little girlfriend, Henry?"

"She's not my girlfriend, Grandma."

"Who's _not_ your girlfriend?"

He looked up at his mother with a smirk before asking, "When can I open my presents?"

Snow piped up and answered, "Oh, Henry! Not until after cake!"

Henry groaned in disappointment, and Regina looked at her watch and asked, "Do you think if you opened the one from your mother and me that would sustain you until after your cake?"

Excited hazel eyes looked up at her when his brunette head nodded vigorously. She chuckled and patted him on the back and said, "Come on, let's go get your mother."

She excused herself from Snow's company and strode behind her son who had dashed for the other side of the diner where his blonde mother was standing next to David, fussing over the three-tier buttercream carrot cake. The icing was blue and had a small plastic replica of Henry in his trademark peacoat and striped scarf standing in a superhero pose on top. Emma was standing with her hands on her hips, shaking her head when Regina approached. "He looks like Harry Potter."

"I think that's where Granny got him from, some Harry Potter fansite. She just took off the glasses and repainted him," David answered.

Regina put her hands on her son's patiently waiting shoulders and cleared her throat before informing, "Darling, would you like to give the birthday boy his present from us?"

Olive green eyes lit up with excitement. "Really? Can we?"

"You sound more excited than Henry."

"I've been waiting for months!" Emma exclaimed then took her son's hand and dragged him toward the kitchen. Regina shook her head at the blonde's exuberance and followed them into the back of the cafe.

When she entered the kitchen, Emma had the large box Regina had wrapped the previous evening in bright blue wrapping paper with a big white bow on top. Henry's eyes grew wide as he looked back toward his adoptive mother and asked, "What is it?"

"Spoilers, sweetie," Regina said with a smile.

"Open it!" Emma said with excitement, then wrapped her arm around Regina to pull her into a hug. Regina returned the embrace, enjoying both Mills' joy.

Henry tugged at one of the large ribbon's long tails, pulling apart the perfect bow, then tore away at the paper so he could open the top of the box. A puzzled look crossed his face as he pulled out a long thin box from within the larger box. The smaller box was wrapped in red paper and had a blue ribbon keeping the lid in place. A nervous smile crossed the little boy's face as he placed the box down on the counter and asked, "What is it? It's heavy."

Emma rolled her head back like the child she was and groaned, "Oh my god, Regina did you have to wrap both? You're killing me!"

"I put his new clothes at the bottom of the first box. This one is the main gift, so, yes, it needed to be wrapped separately."

"Clothes schmothes," Emma answered then turned to her son and instructed, "Open it."

The ribbon was pulled, and he lifted the lid to reveal a thin curved blade resting in a nest of blue tissue paper. Shocked eyes looked up at the two women smiling down on him. "You got me a real sword?"

Regina nodded and said, "Fit for the hero you are, darling."

The boy grabbed the hilt and lifted it out of the box when Emma beamed, "Do you like it?"

Amazement filled Henry's face when he looked to his adoptive mother and asked, "You're allowing this?"

Emma answered for the brunette with a smile when she said, "It was her idea. She got the royal blacksmith to make it for you."

"On the condition that you learn to use it," Regina added sternly. "We got you lessons with the kingdom's elite guardsmen. You'll be dedicating your Sundays to learning to use that thing."

"It's called a cutlass, babe."

Henry moved the blade in the air and asked, "Can I call it Cutty?"

Emma laughed and said, "You can call it whatever you want. Do you like it?"

Henry picked up the metal sheath and slipped the tip carefully inside the slit then returned the entire piece to its box before turning and crashing into both women. "I love it! Thanks, moms!"

Regina held her growing family to her and closed her eyes to savor them. It was better than any dream they'd lived. She was happy in ways she never knew attainable, and it was all due to the choices she'd made since the accident. She'd set aside her anger and revenge and for the first time in her life was not a pawn to the whims of fate, but was an active participant in her own destiny. This time, her life with this family had been Regina's choice, and it was everything she ever wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * * *
> 
> **A/N: That's it kids, thank you so much for checking this one out! It was my first SQSN and I was WAY out of my comfort zone lol  
**  
Till next time! xxo  
~Lu


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